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of  the 

TEXTILE  WORLD  RECORD 
for  its  subscribers  only 


LORD  &  NAGLE  COMPANY 

Publishers 

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8b 

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.  K56 
1909 


No.  6 


A 


EXTILE  WORLD  RECORD 
KIM  BOOKS 


ProctorDRYING  MACHINES  Fire  Proof 


C  3  « 
u  o  C 
«  u  cd 
>J)U. 


A  AS' 


H.  W.  Butterworth 
&  Sons  Go. 


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m 


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A.  H.  WASHBURN 

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Bleaching,  Dyeing,  Drying  and 
Finishing  Machinery 

FOR  TEXTILE  FABRICS 


THE  TEXTILE  WORLD  RECORD 
KINK  BOOKS 


No.  6 


Kinks  for  Wool  and 
Worsted  Finishers 


Compiled  from  the 
Questions  and  Answers  Department 
of  the 

TEXTILE  WORLD  RECORD 
for  its  subscribers  only 


LORD  &  NAGLE  COMPANY 

Publishers 

Boston,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 


Copyright,  1909 
LORD  &  NAGLE  COMPANY 
Boston,  Mass. 


THE  GETTY  CENTER 

LIBRARY 


PREFACE 


Very  little  attention  has  been  given  the  subject  of 
finishing  woolen  and  worsted  goods  by  textile  writers. 
This  is  unfortunate  as  so  important  a  branch  of  the 
woolen  and  worsted  industries  certainly  would  be 
benefited  by  the  interchange  of  ideas  of  competent 
men  on  their  work.  All  finishers  must  have  felt  at 
some  time  this  lack  of  opportunity  to  compare  ex¬ 
periences  with  others  who  have  met  the  same  diffi¬ 
culties. 

The  editors  of  the  Textile  World  Record  are 
at  all  times  face  to  face  with  the  problem  of  securing 
practical  information.  For  years  its  subscribers  have 
been  invited  to  make  free  use  of  its  columns  in  asking 
questions  relating  to  textile  manufacturing  and  it  has 
occurred  to  us  that  if  some  of  the  most  important  and 
most  interesting  of  the  practical  questions  that  have 
been  answered  were  gathered  together  in  a  handy  form 
for  quick  reference  it  would  meet  a  wide-spread  want. 

This  book  is  the  result.  It  contains  information 
which  has  been  supplied  by  manufacturers,  superin¬ 
tendents  and  overseers  from  their  private  note  books 
and  their  stores  of  knowledge  gained  by  experience. 

It  is  offered  free  with  a  new  subscription  to  the 
Textile  World  Record  or  with  the  renewal  of  an 
old  subscription,  and  unless  in  the  future  we  see  some 

3 


4 


PREFACE 


good  reason  to  change  our  policy  it  will  not  be  sold  to 
others.  It  is  therefore  available  only  to  subscribers. 
As  the  subscription  price  of  the  Textile  World 
Record  is  very  low,  amounting  to  less  than  eighteen 
cents  a  month  or  two  dollars  a  year,  Kinks  for  Wool 
and  Worsted  Finishers  is  certainly  within  the  reach  of 
anyone  interested  in  its  contents. 

Many  questions  are  answered  and  much  information 
given  in  this  book,  but  subscribers  should  remember 
that  if  there  is  any  information  they  desire  which  is 
not  given  in  this  volume  it  is  their  privilege  to  ask  the 
Questions  and  Answers  Department  of  the  Textile 
World  Record,  and  every  effort  will  be  made  to 
publish  the  information  for  them,  provided  the  question 
is  one  of  general  interest  to  the  trade. 

No  effort  has  been  made  to  arrange  the  subjects  in 
the  order  of  precedence  in  manufacturing  but  the 
book  is  fully  indexed,  which  should  enable  anyone  to 
find  the  information  he  seeks  in  the  shortest  possible 
time. 

Grateful  acknowledgment  is  due  to  the  men  who 
have  supplied  the  information,  and  if  Kinks  for  Wool 
and  Worsted  Finishers  should  benefit  any  of  the  large 
number  of  men  for  whom  it  is  intended,  both  they 
and  the  publishers  will  feel  that  its  mission  has  been 
accomplished. 

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WOOL  AND  WORSTED  FINISHERS 


Difficulty  in  Fulling 

Our  fuller  shrinks  his  cloth  about  three  inches 
to  the  yard,  but  when  the  goods  are  finished 
they  are  about  the  same  as  when  they  left  the 
loom.  That  is,  they  do  not  stay  where  he  puts 
them,  but  stretch  the  three  inches  that  he 
shrinks  them  and  sometimes  more.  I  think  the 
trouble  is  in  the  fulling  as  it  seems  to  me  half 
an  inch  is  enough  to  allow  for  stretch.  The 
fuller  runs  the  mills  with  the  doors  open  and 
the  pieces  are  very  cold.  Would  that  have 
anything  to  do  with  it?  Marion  (841). 

I  think  “Marion”  will  find  that  running  the 
goods  stone  cold  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the 
trouble  as  the  wool  fibre  does  not  curl  or  twine 
so  much  when  cold,  in  fact,  it  has  an  opposite 
effect.  In  addition  to  this  the  fuller  may  be 
fulling  the  goods  almost  up  to  width  before 
beginning  to  full  the  length.  Both  should  be 
started  together,  even  if  he  has  to  stop  trapping 
them  when  up  in  length  to  get  the  width  right. 
Of  course  there  is  more  strain  on  the  length 
than  the  width  and  the  sooner  it  gets  there  the 
less  it  will  stretch.  Bernard. 


5 


6 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


The  trouble  seems  to  be  that  the  stated  shrink¬ 
age  of  3  inches  on  a  yard  is  caused  merely  by 
wetting  the  pieces  in  the  fulling  mill  and  not  by 
real  fulling.  All  wool  is  more  or  less  elastic, 
but  some  kinds  of  wool  have  a  tendency  to  shrink 
as  soon  as  they  come  in  contact  with  water  or 
any  wet  substance. 

The  fact  that  the  fuller  leaves  the  doors  of  the 
fulling  mill  open  would  seem  to  strengthen  this 
opinion.  He  has  evidently  found  that  the  pieces 
full  too  quickly  and  to  work  more  slowly  opens 
the  doors.  I  would  suggest  that  he  make  an 
experiment  and  put  the  marks  on  the  list  of  the 
next  piece  in  the  usual  way,  and  wash  it  with 
water  without  fulling.  I  think  it  will  be  found 
to  shrink  as  much  as  the  piece  in  the  fulling  mill. 
To  overcome  this  trouble  the  pieces  will  have  to 
be  fulled  six  inches  to  the  yard.  The  dry  finisher 
should  pull  the  pieces  over  a  steam  pipe  after 
each  of  the  different  processes.  Whatever 
stretching  the  goods  undergo  in  the  shears  and 
presses  the  steam  will  bring  them  back  to  the 
fulled  length.  South. 


Crimps  in  Worsted  Cloths 

For  some  time  crimps  have  appeared  on  our 
fabrics.  Will  you  tell  us  how  these  are  made  or 
how  to  prevent  them?  Baker  (1204). 

Crimps  are  a  fault  common  to  worsted  cloths 
and  appear  soonest  in  fabrics  of  hard  make. 
They  form  by  the  cloth  being  allowed  to  remain 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


7 


in  creases  while  hot  and  wet,  as  in  this  state  the 
fabric  is  very  soft  and  creases  quickly.  If  lifted 
hot  from  the  dyeing  vessel,  worsteds  often  show 
the  form  of  crimp  known  as  laid  crimps  or  crow’s 
feet.  They  form  by  the  plaiting  down  of  the 
hot  cloth,  the  bottom  layers  always  suffering  the 
most  owing  to  the  weight  of  the  top  ones.  Pre¬ 
vention  is  best  done  by  running  cold  water  into 
the  vessel  before  lifting,  or  the  cloth  may  be  run 
through  a  cooling  tank  before  being  piled  ready 
for  washing.  Tanks  for  cooling  purposes  are 
often  let  into  the  ground  in  front  of  the  cistern 
used  for  dyeing;  when  flush  with  the  floor  a 
pair  of  substantial  hinged  lids  cover  the  tank  at 
once,  and  when  not  in  use  the  top  forms  a  part 
of  the  floor. 

Another  crimp  known  as  the  long  vertical 
crimp  is  generally  caused  in  the  preliminary 
soap  scouring,  and  sometimes  in  the  washing 
off  after  dyeing.  The  most  frequent  cause  is 
long  running  in  one  fold  during  scouring,  aggra¬ 
vated  by  hot  soap  solutions.  Scourers’  crimps 
are  in  90  per  cent,  of  cases  fast  and  incurable, 
the  crease  being  in  severe  cases  broken.  Hot 
liquors  are  great  causers  of  crimps,  and  no  higher 
temperature  should  ever  be  used  for  worsteds 
than  what  can  be  comfortably  borne  by  the 
hand.  Long  running  in  the  same  crease  is  also 
a  fruitful  cause  of  this  fault,  and  in  many  cases 
far  too  much  soap  is  used,  with  the  result  of 
prolonging  the  scour  in  order  to  clear  it  out. 
Cold  liquors  rarely  give  rise  to  crimps,  unless 


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KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


the  squeezing  rollers  are  exceptionally  heavy  or 
the  cloth  is  overcrowded  in  the  washer.  With 
the  idea  of  changing  the  form  of  crease,  the  cloth 
is  often  crossed  at  the  back  of  the  machine,  so 
that  two  pieces  instead  of  running  in  two  endless 
bands  run  in  the  form  of  a  figure  eight.  Open 
width  scouring  machines  are  recommended  for 
goods  with  a  tendency  to  crimp;  they  certainly 
keep  the  cloth  open  but  take  a  long  time  to 
perform  the  work  as  the  squeezing  is  slight. 

Sergius. 


Brightening  White  Blankets 

Can  you  suggest  any  harmless  solution  that 
we  could  use  in  washing  our  country  blankets 
to  brighten  the  white?  Could  the  same  solution 
be  used  when  washing  black  and  white  or  other 
plaids  ?  How  can  we  overcome  the  effects  of 
using  muddy  water?  Syracuse  (848). 

Probably  the  water  being  used  is  one  cause  of 
the  dull  colors  and  we  would  suggest  that  a  clear 
water  be  provided,  either  by  filtration  or  finding 
a  new  source. 

If  the  blankets  are  scoured  thoroughly  before 
fulling  and  washed  carefully  afterward,  the 
white  should  be  bright,  provided  suitable  stock 
is  used.  A  good  scouring  soap  is  made  as 
follows : 

10  ozs.  good  soap,  or 
1>2  ozs.  cotton  seed  oil  soap, 

3  ozs.  alkali, 

1  gallon  of  water. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


9 


This  solution  should  be  boiled  until  dissolved. 
Just  before  it  is  cold  add  one-half  ounce  of  sal 
ammoniac  to  the  gallon.  If  this  is  added  while 
the  solution  is  hot,  the  sal  ammoniac,  being  very 
volatile,  will  lose  much  of  its  value. 

After  fulling,  rinse  the  goods  thoroughly  in 
the  washer,  but  do  not  add  soap.  Rinsing 
should  last  from  45  minutes  to  one  hour,  first 
using  warm  water,  and  then  cold,  and  allowing 
the  suds  to  drain  off  frequently.  When  blacks 
or  other  plaids  are  washed  the  warm  water  could 
not  be  used  unless  the  color  was  very  good. 


Removal  of  Spots  on  Worsted  Goods 

I  would  like  a  recipe  for  removing  spots  from 
white  worsted  goods  that  are  to  be  piece  dye  . 

Orinoco  (427). 

Ordinary  dirt  spots  can  generally  be  removed 
with  soap  and  water.  Rust  spots  can  in  most 
cases  be  removed  by  a  weak  cold  solution  of 
oxalic  acid.  They  do  not  disappear  immediately , 
prolonged  treatment  being  necessary.  The  solu¬ 
tion  is  applied  to  the  spots  and  the  cloth  left  to 
soak,  the  spotted  places  being  in  the  meantime 
repeatedly  dampened.  Finally  the  spot  is  re¬ 
moved  by  rubbing  with  a  sponge  or  cloth.  It 
is  often  a  good  plan  to  apply  a  dilute  alkali 
solution  to  neutralize  the  acid  that  may  remain 
in  the  goods.  If  the  goods  have  been  dyed  and 
the  color  has  been  affected  by  the  acid,  the 


IO 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


pieces  are  passed  through  a  solution  of  spirits 
of  sal  ammoniac.  Several  thicknesses  of  cloth 
should  be  placed  under  the  piece  of  cloth  that 
is  being  treated.  If  this  precaution  is  neglected 
and  the  cloth  rests  upon  wood,  stone  or  other 
hard  substance,  the  spot  is  likely  to  be  made 
larger  because  of  the  spreading  of  the  rust.  If 
the  fabric  is  very  thick  and  firm,  both  sides 
should  be  treated. 

If  there  are  many  spots  in  the  goods  it  is  well 
to  apply  the  acid  solution  in  the  scouring  machine. 
The  pieces  are  run  in  the  solution  until  the  spots 
disappear,  the  worst  places  can  be  treated  by 
hand  as  already  described.  After  treating  with 
acid  the  cloth  is  thoroughly  rinsed  in  clear 
water  and  then  in  a  weak  alkali  solution. 

Spots  caused  by  animal  oil  are  easily  removed 
by  benzine,  spirits  of  sal  ammoniac  or  with  a 
solution  of  acid  and  ammonia.  Delicate  colors 
should  be  treated  with  neutral  soap  only. 

Mineral  oil  spots  are  removed  as  follows: 
After  placing  the  cloth  on  felt  or  three  or  four 
thicknesses  of  clean  cloth,  olive  oil,  oleine  or 
rape  seed  oil  is  applied  to  the  spots  and  left  for 
some  time  to  soak  into  the  goods  and  become 
mixed  with  the  mineral  oil  in  the  spots.  The 
spots  are  then  treated  with  the  following  solu¬ 
tion:  20  per  cent,  of  soap,  60  per  cent,  spirits 
sal  ammoniac,  20  per  cent,  acetic  ether.  They 
are  then  rubbed  with  a  sponge  or  cloth  and  the 
goods  rinsed  in  lukewarm  water.  Washing  in  a 
soap  solution  is  sometimes  advisable. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


II 


Where  the  pieces  are  badly  spotted  oleine  is 
freely  applied  and  the  goods  are  then  washed 
with  soap  and  acid  in  a  regular  scouring  machine. 
An  old  and  thoroughly  tested  means  of  removing 
oil  spots  consists  of  rubbing  the  spot  with  warm 
oil  and  then  washing  with  soap  and  water. 

Acid  and  fruit  stains,  as  well  as  those  made 
with  tar  and  grease,  yield  quickly  to  a  solution 
made  of  75  per  cent,  alcohol,  5  per  cent,  benzine, 
and  20  per  cent,  spirits  of  sal  ammoniac.  Fruit 
spots  are  readily  removed  by  unterchlorsaures 
natron. 

Mold  spots,  if  only  on  the  surface,  are  removed 
by  a  thorough  washing  or  steaming.  If,  how¬ 
ever,  the  mold  has  penetrated  the  fabric  the 
spot  cannot  be  removed,  because  either  the 
fibre  or  the  color  has  been  partially  destroyed. 
These  mold  spots  appear  in  the  form  of  light 
colored  places  in  the  finished  goods.  Pieces 
that  are  spotted  with  mold  should  first  be  treated 
with  spirits  of  sal  ammoniac  in  the  scouring 
machine,  then  with  a  solution  of  soap.  Good 
results  are  also  obtained  with  unterchlorsaures 

natron. 

Faint  acid  spots  caused  by  carbonizing  dis¬ 
appear  by  scouring;  pronounced  spots  remain 
visible  after  the  goods  are  colored,  in  which  case 
it  is  necessary  to  dye  the  pieces  black. 

Spots  caused  by  pouring  strong  solutions  of 
alkali  on  the  goods  during  washing,  fulling  or 
neutralizing  remain  visible  even  after  dyeing, 
and  generally  do  not  yield  to  any  treatment. 


12 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


In  rare  cases  they  may  be  removed  by  neutral¬ 
izing  the  alkali  spots  with  a  weak  acid  solution, 
then  rinsing  the  goods  in  clear  water. 

Small  spots  caused  by  specking  ink  are  re¬ 
moved  by  a  damp  sponge;  large  spots  of  the 
same  origin  are  removed  by  scouring  the  pieces 
with  soap  and  fuller’s  earth  in  the  regular 
scouring  machine.  Sometimes  such  spots  can 
be  removed  by  a  rinsing  in  clear  water.  Ink 
spots  are  removed  by  unterchlorsaures  natron. 
Spots  caused  by  steaming  or  sponging  are  re¬ 
moved  by  repeated  rinsing  in  warm  water  or  by 
steam  blowing.  N.  N. 


Sponging  Cotton  Warp  Worsted 

We  enclose  sample  cut  from  a  piece  which 
before  sponging  was  in  good  condition,  but  after 
being  subjected  to  the  ordinary  steam  sponging 
a  number  of  red  stripes  appeared  across  the 
piece  at  irregular  distances.  Some  of  these 
stripes  ran  across  the  piece  and  some  lengthways. 
Please  let  us  know  the  cause  of  this  discoloration. 

Clifton  (1056). 

After  a  careful  examination  I  find  that  this 
fabric  is  composed  of  cotton  warp  and  worsted 
filling,  and  the  change  in  color  has  taken  place 
wholly  in  the  warp  threads,  the  filling  threads 
not  showing  any  change.  I  feel  quite  sure  in 
saying  that  this  cloth  was  colored  in  the  piece 
by  what  is  known  as  the  one  dip  process.  The 
cause  of  the  change  of  color  on  the  cotton  is 
owing  to  the  high  temperature  to  which  it  has 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


13 


been  subjected  in  the  steaming  or  sponging 
process,  the  color  used  in  dyeing  not  being 
able  to  resist  the  action  of  the  steam  at  this 
high  temperature.  If  this  piece  was  steamed 
hard  enough  the  color  in  the  warp  would  change 
throughout  the  whole  piece.  I  would  suggest 
sponging  this  fabric  by  the  cold  process. 

Finisher. 


Finishing  Fancy  Cassimeres 

I  would  like  the  methods  used  by  some  of 
your  old  finishers  on  fancy  cassimeres..  Our 
selling  house  is  not  satisfied  with  the  finish  we 
give  them.  Holmer  (1472). 

As  cassimeres  are  close  finished  fabrics,  they 
should  be  mended  in  the  grease.  All  parts  are 
treated  alike  during  the  finishing  process  and 
this  will  make  the  imperfections  less  likely  to 
show  than  if  the  sewing  is  done  after  the  goods 
are  sheared. 

In  the  next  process,  fulling,  the  pieces  are 
folded  with  the  face  inside  and  the  selvages 
sewn  together.  This  makes  the  pieces  full 
more  evenly  and  also  keeps  the  flocks  from 
the  face  of  the  goods,  if  flocks  are  used.  The 
flocks  should  be  applied  as  slowly  as  possible 
and  the  pieces  run  from  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes. 
The  goods  are  now  ready  for  soaping  and  for 
this  a  soap  containing  three  to  seven  ounces 
of  alkali  per  gallon  is  best.  It  should  be  used 
lukewarm  and  care  taken  to  have  the  pieces 
wet  evenly  and  thoroughly.  Good  judgment  is 


14 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


necessary  to  shrink  the  goods  in  length  and 
width  in  the  same  proportions.  If  this  is  not 
done  they  will  be  more  likely  to  draw  out  or 
stretch  in  succeeding  operations.  It  is  a  good 
plan  in  some  cases  to  take  the  goods  out  of  the 
fulling  mill  and  reverse  the  ends  during  the 
operation.  They  should  lose  anywhere  from 
18  to  22  per  cent,  in  weight.' 

After  fulling  the  goods  are  scoured,  but  this 
should  be  more  of  a  rinsing  process  than  scouring, 
as  the  soap  used  in  fulling  should  have  alkali 
enough  to  raise  the  grease  thoroughly.  After 
several  applications  of  warm  water  in  the 
washer,  pour  on  a  2]/2  per  cent,  solution  of  sal 
soda  to  remove  any  soap  remaining  and  then 
run  in  cold  water  for  half  an  hour.  If  the 
pieces  are  to  be  scoured  fill  the  washer  half 
full  of  water.  For  fancy  colors  add  a  small 
quantity  of ‘sulphuric  acid,  run  for  ten  minutes 
and  rinse  well  in  cold  water.  If  the  goods  are 
to  be  burr  dyed  they  should  not  be  scoured. 
The  pieces  are  now  extracted  lightly  and  gigged. 

The  goods  must  be  gigged  very  carefully 
in  order  to  bring  the  threads  out  round  and 
full.  The  next  process  is  back  burling,  after 
which  the  goods  are  taken  to  the  shear.  This 
operation  of  shearing  should  not  be  hurried 
and  several  runs  should  be  made  with  the  blades 
at  different  points  until  the  threads  show  full 
and  round.  On  the  specking  table  burrs  and 
coarse  fancy  threads  are  carefully  removed,  and 
any  places  to  be  mended  should  be  marked. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS  1 5 

After  two  or  three  runs  on  the  brush  the  pieces 
are  pressed.  If  a  screw  press  is  used  the  pieces 
should  be  folded  with  the  face  inside  and  paper 
placed  between  the  folds.  The  papers  should 
be  changed  at  the  end  of  six  hours  and  the  face 
of  the  goods  lightly  steamed. 

With  a  rotary  press  give  a  moderately  hard 
pressure  so  that  the  back  of  the  piece  will  hold 
the  pressing  when  the  face  is  steamed.  Run 
on  the  roll,  let  stand  for  twenty-four  hours, 
then  steam  lightly  again.  After  a  final  inspec¬ 
tion  the  goods  are  ready  to  be  cased  and  shipped. 

I.  A.  T. 


Rust  Spots  on  White  Woolen  Goods 

We  are  having  trouble  in  bleaching  white 
woolen  goods  with  sulphur.  Small  rust  spots 
of  various  sizes  appear  at  intervals;  sometimes 
they  are  as  large  as  a  man’s  hand  and  have 
the  effect  of  a  sponge  filled  with  rusty  water 
and  dropped  on  the  goods.  The  goods  are 
bleached  in  one  long  length.  Rockland  (873). 

So  many  different  causes  might  produce  the 
defect  mentioned  that  it  is  very  difficult  to 
give  a  satisfactory  reply.  Possibly  the  spots 
are  caused  in  the  carbonizing  process  and  do 
not  show  up  until  after  the  goods  are  bleached. 

A  number  of  years  ago  I  had  just  such  a 
trouble  in  the  mill  where  I  was  working.  It 
was  a  ramshackle  sort  of  place  and  all  the  steam 
and  water  pipes  were  old.  One  morning  rust 
stains  like  those  “Rockland”  describes  appeared 


1 6  KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 

on  the  goods.  We  looked  for  the  cause  of  the 
trouble,  but  could  not  find  it.  For  a  few  days 
the  goods  came  clear,  then  the  rust  spots  ap¬ 
peared  again.  Then  we  hunted  some  more, 
and  after  a  while  we  found  the  cause.  I  had 
tied  a  bag  over  the  water  pipe  before  opening 
it  to  dilute  the  acid  bath  and  pieces  of  rusty 
iron  about  as  large  as  peas  had  lodged  near  the 
valve  ready  to  be  discharged  when  the  valve 
was  opened.  The  spots  were  generally  worse  on 
Monday  morning  after  the  shut  down  over 
Sunday. 

Possibly  Rockland”  will  be  able  to  trace  his 
stains  to  the  same  cause.  If  he  is  using  steam 
power  to  keep  the  bath  at  a  uniform  temper¬ 
ature,  this  may  cause  it,  on  account  of  the 
affinity  of  iron  for  sulphur.  If  there  is  a  deposit 
of  iron  it  would  be  transferred  to  the  goods. 
We  sometimes  had  to  run  the  water  through 
the  pipe  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  to  clear  the 
pipe  of  the  deposits.  Then  of  course  there  may 
be  a  large  percentage  of  iron  in  the  water,  which 
would  make  it  worse. 

It  might  also  be  caused  by  exposed  pillars, 
beams,  bolt  heads,  nails  or  other  iron  connections 
that  have  corroded  and  come  in  contact  with 
the  goods  during  the  process  of  bleaching. 
The  pipes  should  be  covered  at  once,  if  exposed. 

If  the  trouble  occurs  early  in  the  week  or  even 
early  in  the  morning,  it  can  probably  be  traced 
to  the  pipes.  If  the  water  or  sulphur  used  in 
bleaching  contains  iron,  it  would  be  in  such 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


17 

minute  quantities  that  it  could  not  produce 
the  effect  complained  of,  and  in  any  case  it 
would  be  more  evenly  distributed. 

_ _  Charles  Aitkin. 

Bleaching  with  Permanganate  of  Potash 

I  would  to  have  some  information  regarding 
the  bleaching  of  union  goods,  cotton  and  wool, 
with  permanganate  of  potash.  Stevens  (1018) 

The  bleaching  of  union  goods  with  perman¬ 
ganate  has  not  been  entirely  successful  for  the 
reason  that  the  cotton  contained  in  the  cloth 
is  always  very  liable  to  suffer  in  strength  by 
the  influence  of  the  powerful  oxidizing  action 
of  the  permanganate,  and  also  by  the  action 
of  the  acids  necessary  to  complete  the  bleach. 

Wool  is  quite  effectively  bleached  by  per¬ 
manganate,  the  strength  of  solution  ranging 
from  3^-ounce  to  2  ounces  of  permanganate  to 
every  25  gallons  of  water.  One  German  author¬ 
ity  mentions  a  strength  of  “4  per  cent.”  which 
for  the  above  quantity  of  water  would  be  nearly 
133  ounces,  and  which  is  no  doubt  an  error, 
but  liable  to  cause  serious  trouble  to  the  goods, 
besides  leading  to  a  condemnatory  opinion  of 
the  process. 

With  a  solution  of  say,  1  ounce  to  25  gallons, 
there  should  be  added  about  1  per  cent,  of  Epsom 
salts  (sulphate  of  magnesia),  the  effect  of  which 
is  to  counteract  the  action  of  the  caustic  potash 
formed  in  the  bath  during  the  deposition  of  the 
peroxide  of  manganese,  with  the  formation  of 


l8  KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 

magnesium  hydroxide  and  potassium  sulphate, 
conserves  the  strength  of  the  wool  fibres.  The 
immersion  of  the  goods  lasts  about  one  hour, 
taking  care  to  have  the  material  thoroughly 
wetted,  then  turning  regularly  for  another  hour 
until  the  peroxide  deposited  appears  to  be  quite 
uniform.  The  actual  bleaching  is  accomplished 
during  the  depositing  of  this  brown  oxide. 

The  “clearing”  is  accomplished  by  passing 
the  well  washed  material  through  a  fresh  cold 
bath  made  up  with  either  bisulphite  of  soda  or 
sulphurous  acid  and  borax.  Some  recommend 
that  this  bath  be  heated  to  125°  F.,  but  to  the 
writer  this  seems  to  invite  damage  to  the  goods. 
After  the  brown  coloration  has  been  entirely 
removed  the  goods  should  be  removed,  well 
washed  to  remove  every  trace  of  acid,  and  then 
dried. 

For  union  goods  it  is  suggested  to  use  a  cold 
permanganate  solution  of  y2  to  25  gallons  of 
water,  bleach  until  the  pink  color  is  completely 
lost,  wash  well,  and  give  a  sour  in  dilute  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  at  1°  Tw.,  until  the  brown  has 
cleared,  then  lift,  and  wash  well  to  remove  all 
traces  of  acid.  This  will  give  a  basis  upon  which 
to  work  out  a  process  for  this  type  of  bleach. 

Berwick. 


Perforated  Rolls  for  Steaming  Cloth 

What  are  the  advantages  and  disadvantages 
of  large  and  small  perforated  rolls  for  steaming 
cloth?  We  are  now  steaming  our  goods  on  an 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


19 


ordinary  steam  gig  with  7-inch  rolls,  and  are 
informed  that  better  results  can  b.e  obtained  at 
less  cost  with  the  use  of  a  regular  steaming 
machine  with  larger  rolls.  Stein  (457). 

Increasing  the  size  of  the  rollers  enables  a 
larger  quantity  of  cloth  to  be  wound  without 
any  increase  in  the  thickness  of  the  cloth  through 
which  the  steam  is  forced.  Two  pieces  of  24- 
ounce  worsted  serge  measuring  79>£  yards  were 
wound  on  a  7-inch  roll  and  the  cloth  was  five 
inches  thick.  It  would,  however,  take  152>£ 
yards  of  the  same  kind  of  clpth  wound  on  an 
18-inch  roll  to  make  a  thickness  of  5  inches. 

Experience  has  shown  that  with  copper  of 
the  ordinary  thickness,  1-8  of  an  inch,  it  is  not 
safe  to  increase  the  diameter  of  the  perforated 
roll  beyond  18  inches.  If  made  larger  than  that 
the  pressure  of  the  air  when  the  steam  is 
condensed  inside  the  cylinder  is  liable  to  cause  the 
cylinder  to  collapse. 


Wrinkling  of  Woolen  Goods 

We  are  making  union  dress  goods  and  flannels 
weighing  10  ounces  per  yard,  56  inches  wide, 
26  warp  threads  and  28  picks  per  inch  in  the 
goods.  We  fold  by  hand  and  bolt  our  goods, 
using  a  long  table  with  a  hand  baling  machine. 
Some  of  the  pieces  will  bolt  even,  others  will 
not  lie  smooth  on  the  table  and  will  wrinkle  on 
the  bolt.  We  dry  on  tender  bars.  We  use  a 
steam  press  for  finishing  part  of  our  goods,  but 
have  the  trouble  with  goods  that  are  not  pressed 
at  all.  Can  you  suggest  a  remedy? 

Canton  (988). 


20 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


Not  knowing  the  nature  of  the  wrinkles,  this 
is  a  hard  question  to  answer,  but  there  are 
several  causes  for  this  difficulty.  The  most  fre¬ 
quent  is  tight  listing  and  cockles.  When  the 
trouble  is  caused  from  the  listing  the  cloth  will 
bag  in  the  center  when  the  listings  are  folded 
together  and  will  wrinkle  when  the  goods  are 
folded  up.  The  only  remedy  for  this  trouble  is 
to  use  as  much  tension  on  the  press  as  possible 
when  pressing  the  goods,  that  is,  stretch  them 
lengthways.  This  will  stretch  out  the  listing  to 
correspond  with  the  center  of  the  piece.  This 
remedy  is  also  used  when  the  listings  are  loose. 
The  finishing  department  is  not  the  proper 
place  to  remedy  this  trouble,  it  should  be  done 
before  weaving.  It  is  usually  caused  by 
using  yarns  for  the  listings  differing  in  size  from 
those  used  in  the  rest  of  the  warp. 

As  the  goods  will  not  lie  smooth  on  the  table, 
I  judge  the  trouble  is  caused  from  cockles.  It 
is  often  maintained  that  this  trouble  is  caused 
in  the  fulling  process,  from  uneven  soaping,  etc., 
but  this  is  not  so.  Cockles  cannot  be  made  in 
the  fulling  mill.  Cockles  are  made  before  the 
goods  reach  the  finishing  department,  or  even 
before  the  goods  are  woven.  As  they  cannot 
be  seen  until  brought  out  by  the  fulling  process 
it  is  but  natural  to  lay  the  blame  on  that. 
Cockles  are  often  the  result  of  uneven  filling, 
mixed  filling,  uneven  weaving  and  uneven  oiling 
of  the  stock.  The  latter  is  the  most  frequent 
cause.  Weaving  in  old  bobbins  of  filling  that 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


21 


have  been  allowed  to  lie  around  for  a  long  time 
will  also  cause  cockles.  In  such  cases  the  oil 
is  firmly  set  and  is  apt  to  start  uneven  in  the 
fulling  process.  This  can  be  overcome  by  a 
strong  solution  of  alkali,  as  strong  as  the  fabric 
will  stand.  Alkali  is  a  strong  agent  in  the 
fulling  process  and  is  likely  to  bring  up  the 
goods  in  width  and  length  before  the  required 
amount  of  felt  is  produced.  In  such  a  case 
the  goods  should  be  thoroughly  scoured  before 
fulling,  when  it  will  be  possible  to  treat  them 
at  this  point  so  that  the  required  finish  may  be 
obtained.  Cockles  are  never  caused  from  uneven 
soaping  unless  hot  soap  is  used.  This  should 
never  be  used  as  the  soap  will  penetrate  very 
quickly  in  spots  and  these  places  will  begin  to 
full  before  the  drier  places  become  wet  enough 
to  start. 

Mixed  filling  in  the  weave  room  will  often 
cause  bad  work,  especially  on  fabrics  that  re¬ 
quire  a  lot  of  fulling.  The  filling  being  of 
different  stock,  with  more  or  less  twist,  the 
goods  will  full  unevenly.  This  is  easily  de¬ 
tected  as  the  wrinkles  run  straight  across  the 
goods.  When  the  goods  come  to  the  finishing 
room  in  that  condition  the  only  thing  to  do  is 
to  stretch  them  in  width,  leaving  the  pieces  on 
the  rolls  over  night.  Vincent. 


22 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


Test  of  Hydro-Extractor 

How  much  water  should  be  left  in  woolen  goods 
by  a  centrifugal  extractor?  Dry  Gig  (371). 

The  amount  of  water  in  extracted  cloth  de¬ 
pends  upon  the  fabric  and  efficiency  of  the 
centrifugal  extractor.  If  the  fabric  is  close  and 
solid,  it  will  not  absorb  moisture  as  well  as  will 
a  soft,  spongy  and  loosely  woven  cloth.  The 
efficiency  *of  a  cloth  extractor  is  tested  by 
weighing  the  pieces  as  they  come  from  the 
machine  and  again  after  drying.  The  pieces 
should  not  be  subjected  to  any  process  of 
finishing  between  extracting  and  drying.  For 
example,  a  piece  of  kersey  weighs  81>^  pounds 
when  extracted  and  62  pounds  when  dry,  show¬ 
ing  that  the  extractor  left  in  the  piece  19>£ 
pounds  of  water  which  was  removed  by  drying. 
This  19}4  pounds  is  31.4  per  cent,  of  the  dry 
weight  of  the  piece.  By  making  an  occasional 
test  of  this  kind  the  efficiency  of  the  machine 
can  be  determined.  The  tests  should,  of  course, 
be  made  with  the  same  fabric  as  the  amount  of 
water  retained  by  different  fabrics  varies  widely. 

Following  are  the  results  of  tests  of  an  ex¬ 
tractor  on  six  pieces  of  tightly  woven  kerseys, 
style  4608,  and  two  pieces  of  loosely  woven 
beavers,  styles  1441  and  1382.  The  water  left 
by  the  extractor  in  the  kerseys  varied  from 
25.7  to  37.7  while  that  left  in  the  beavers 
varied  from  80.1  to  85.7  respectively: 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


23 


STYLE 

WEIGHT 

Percentage 
of  water 
based  on 
dry  weight. 

Extracted 

Dry 

Water 

4608 

81^ 

62 

19^ 

31.4 

4608 

63  H 

50 

13 

25.7 

4608 

65  y, 

51 

14 

27.1 

4608 

73 

53 

20 

37.7 

4608 

73 

56 

17 

30.3 

4608 

7  5V2 

55 

20  y2 

37.3 

1441 

104^ 

56 

48 

85.7 

1382 

104^ 

58 

46  ^ 

80.1 

The  wide  Variation  here  disclosed  was  probably 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  pieces  were  run  in  the 
extractor  for  the  same  length  of  time  irrespective 
of  the  fabric,  and  shows  the  necessity  of  gauging 
the  time  of  running  by  the  class  of  goods  handled. 
The  speed  of  the  extractor  is  of  course  limited  by 
the  consideration  of  safety. 


Burr  Dye  for  Wool,  Worsted  and  Union 

Goods 

Will  you  kindly  give  me  recipes  for  burr  dyes 
which  can  safely  be  used  on  all-wool  goods  and 
on  union  cassimeres  and  cotton  warp  goods. 
Also  please  give  the  strength  to  be  used. 

Burry  (1314). 

Burr  dye  is  made  of  logwood,  blue  vitriol  and 
soda  ash,  a  good  recipe  for  it  being: 


Extract  of  Logwood . 48  lbs. 

Soda  Ash . 30  lbs. 

Blue  Vitriol  .  12  lbs. 


24 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


This  should  make  about  100  gallons  of  a  burr 
dye  that  can  (properly  diluted)  be  used  with 
safety  upon  almost  any  kind  of  woolen  or 
worsted,  excepting  cotton  mixtures.  The  dye 
will  stand  at  about  10°,  and  has  to  be  diluted 
with  cold  water  to  suit  the  fabric  under  operation. 
This  burr  dye,  as  in  fact  all  others,  must  be  used 
only  when  perfectly  cold;  again  it  will  not  do 
to  allow  the  goods  to  stand  still  in  the  liquor 
any  length  of  time. 

Another  recipe  for  a  burr  dye  is  given  thus: 


Extract  of  Logwood . 200  lbs. 

Soda  Ash . 110  lbs. 

Blue  Vitriol  .  50  lbs. 


This  should  make  about  200  gallons  of  a  burr 
dye,  and  which  also  has  to  be  reduced  with  cold 
water  previous  to  using  it. 

The  extract  of  logwood  as  used  for  burr  dye 
can  without  disadvantage  be  of  an  inferior 
grade,  or  hematine  will  do  just  as  well.  This 
logwood  or  hematine  is  put  into  a  tank  with 
sufficient  water  to  fill  said  tank  about  1-8  full. 
Then  add  the  blue  vitriol,  turn  on  steam,  and 
bring  the  mixture  to  a  boil,  after  which  turn  off 
some  of  the  steam  and  boil  moderately,  until 
all  the  vitriol  has  been  dissolved;  then  turn  off 
the  steam  and  let  the  liquor  stand  for  a  few 
hours  to  cool,  adding  at  the  same  time  a  pail  or 
two  of  cold  water.  Then  add  the  soda  ash, 
but  remember,  very  slowly  and  carefully,  since 
as  soon  as  the  soda  ash  and  the  vitriol  come  in 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


25 


contact,  fermentation  sets  in,  and  the  liquor 
will  begin  to  boil  and  rise,  and  possibly  run  over 
in  the  tank,  and  thus  the  best  part  of  the  coloring 
matter  be  lost. 

When  all  the  soda  ash  has  been  added,  let  the 
liquor  stand  for  some  time,  in  order  to  give  it  a 
chance  slowly  to  work,  and  at  the  same  time, 
if  at  any  time  there  are  signs  of  it  rising,  add 
a  little  cold  water.  Agitate  the  ash  gently  until 
you  can  stir  the  liquor  without  it  showing  signs 
of  much  rising,  then  turn  on  steam  and  bring  it 
slowly  to  boil,  and  in  turn  keep  this  up  for  about 
four  hours.  Next  turn  off  the  steam  and  fill 
tank  with  cold  wate^,  keeping  the  liquor  well 
stirred  while  the  tank  is  filling. 

When  the  process  is  finished,  the  liquor  should 
possess  clearness  and  richness  (a  clear  plum  or 
claret)  of  color,  when,  however,  if  the  color  is 
muddy  and  of  a  dirty  blue,  gray,  or  black  shade, 
it  is  a  sign  that  an  error  in  preparing  it  has  been 
made,  and  that  the  dye  will  give  poor  results 
when  used.  Never  combine  the  coloring  matter 
with  the  ash  first  and  then  add  the  vitriol,  for 
in  this  manner  the  best  strength  of  the  extract 
of  logwood  is  wasted,  while  if  it  is  combined 
with  the  vitriol  first  and  the  ash  added  last,  all 
of  its  power  is  retained.  Combining  the  vitriol 
and  ash  with  water,  and  then  adding  extract  of 
logwood,  will  also  give  poor  results,  there  being 
something  in  the  extract  of  logwood  which  needs 
fermentation,  and  which  is  omitted  by  this 
combination  of  the  ingredients.  In  the  same 


26 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


manner  adding  all  three  ingredients  at  one  time 
into  a  barrel  or  tank,  and  this  to  boil  with  a 
small  amount  of  water,  will  also  give  a  poor,  if 
not  valueless  burr  dye. 

The  more  soda  ash  there  is  used,  the  deeper 
a  claret  the  shade  will  be,  while,  if  the  amount 
of  vitriol  used  is  increased,  then  the  shade  will 
lean  more  towards  the  blue  cast  than  the  claret. 

A  point  which  sometimes  puzzles  a  finisher  is 
just  how  strong  a  burr  dye  should  be  in  order 
to  produce  results.  This,  naturally,  varies  more 
or  less  with  the  kind  of  goods  treated,  that  is 
the  character  and  abundance  of  specks  and  burrs 
which  it  has  to  conceal ;  also  upon  the  method 
adopted  in  applying,  as  well  as  upon  the  time 
when  the  dye  is  used.  Under  ordinary  circum¬ 
stances,  and  upon  a  fair  grade  of  stock,  the  dye 
will  be  found  to  work  well  at  1  y2°  to  3°.  The 
quantity  of  dye  to  be  applied  to  the  .goods 
also  varies  with  the  amount  of  work  which  it 
has  to  do,  and  with  the  method  of  its  application. 

Some  finishers  use  the  dye  in  the  washers 
before  gigging  the  cloth,  and  when  about  three 
pails  of  the  3°  dye  to  the  piece  will  do  the  work. 
The  operation  in  this  case  is  thus:  Run  the 
fabrics  in  the  washer  sufficiently  long  to  thorough¬ 
ly  start  the  soap  and  dirt;  and  do  not  add  the 
dye  until  a  good,  clean  lather  has  begun  to  show. 
Each  piece  should  run  in  its  three  pails  of  dye 
for  at  least  twenty  minutes  before  the  rinsing 
in  cold  water  has  begun. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


27 


However,  the  best  plan  is  to  defer  the  burr 
dyeing  until  after  the  goods  are  gigged.  In 
this  instance,  although  we  may  use  the  same 
amount  of  dye, — about  the  same,  viz.,  three 
pails  to  the  piece, — yet  it  is  only  necessary  to 
have  it  about  half  as  strong  as  if  burr  dyeing 
in  the  washer,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  same 
results,  1  in  most  cases  being  quite  strong 
enough  for  all  practical  purposes. 

A  good  method  of  applying  the  burr  dye  to 
the  goods  is  thus:  The  dye  is  contained  in  a 
large  square  tank,  a  roller  frame  being  adjusted 
in  the  tank  and  on  which  the  cloth  is  run  from 
a  pile  on  the  floor.  The  cloth  is  thus  run  up  from 
the  floor  and  down  into  the  liquor,  being  passed 
over  the  top  row  of  rollers  and  under  the  lower 
row  alternately.  Then  just  before  it  passes  out 
of  the  tank,  it  is  run  between  two  large  squeeze 
rollers,  in  order  to  save  the  surplus  dye  liquor, 
which  thus  runs  back  into  the  tank  and  is  re¬ 
used.  From  these  squeeze  rollers,  the  fabric  is 
run  on  the  roller  or  directly  into  the  washers  for 
the  removal  of  the  loose  dye  and  the  final  cleans¬ 
ing.  In  its  passage  between  the  large  pressure 
rollers  the  cloth  must  be  carefully  smoothed,  and 
not  allowed  to  curl  or  wrinkle  under  at  the 
selvages.  By  this  method  of  burr  dyeing,  the 
cloth  is  not  allowed  to  remain  in  the  dye  too 
long  at  a  time,  and  the  liquor  is  evenly  and  uni¬ 
formly  distributed  over  the  whole  piece,  so  that 
no  part  of  the  goods  receives  more  than  the 


28 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


other.  Cloudy  and  shady  goods  will  not  be 
liable  to  form  if  care  is  taken. 

In  most  cases,  however,  the  burr  dyeing  is 
done  in  the  washer,  in  which  case  let  the  goods 
run  20  minutes  in  the  dye,  and  then  rinse  well 
and  give  a  bath  of  fuller’s  earth  after  that, 
which  will  prevent  all  danger  of  the  goods  crock¬ 
ing. 

UNION  GOODS 

When  dealing  with  union  cassimeres,  and  all 
goods  which  have  cotton  warp  and  wool  filling, 
we  must  resort  to  different  plans  for  burr  dyeing, 
or  else  a  different  effect  will  be  produced  upon 
the  cotton  from  that  produced  upon  the  wool 
portion  of  the  fabric,  for  the  fact  that  if  the  dye 
were  so  made  that  it  would  produce  exactly  the 
desired  effect  upon  the  wool  and  cover  nicely 
all  the  specks  and  dyes  contained  therein,  it 
would  be  most  likely  to  tinge  the  cotton  in  the 
fabric  to  such  a  marked  extent  as  to  materially 
affect  the  whole  appearance  of  the  piece.  For 
such  goods  a  good  recipe  for  preparing  burr  dye 


is  thus: 

Extract  Logwood  . 175  lbs. 

Soda  Ash . 140  lbs. 

Blue  Vitriol  .  90  lbs. 


This  produces  200  gallons  of  a  dye  which 
stands  about  at  15°,  and  which  for  dark  shades 
should  be  reduced  to  2°,  and  for  light  to  1°, 
while  pails  to  a  6-4  piece,  and  from  10  to 
15  minutes,  application  in  the  washer  (consider- 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


29 


ing  a  fabric  previously  gigged),  will  give  proper 
results.  The  rinsing  after  this  is  a  very  im¬ 
portant  step,  and  must  be  carefully  and  thorough¬ 
ly  done,  with  a  good  rich  flow  of  pure  water, 
otherwise  goods  may  crack.  Plenty  of  time 
must  always  be  given  for  this  scouring  or  rinsing 
after  burr  dyeing,  since,  unless  it  is  well  done, 
this  result  is  inevitable.  If  it  is  desired  to 
produce  a  sort  of  blue  cast  on  these  fabrics,  a 
case  often  called  for,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
employ  about  twice  as  much  blue  vitriol  and 
half  as  much  soda  ash.  But  here  there  will  be 
trouble  unless  the  greatest  care  is  taken  not  to 
use  too  much  of  the  vitriol  for  the  good  of  the 
cloth.  The  amount  which  can  be  safely  used 
will  depend  largely  upon  the  condition  of  the 
goods,  but  under  any  circumstances  enough 
should  be  used  to  cover  all  the  burrs  and  specks, 
or  else  its  purpose  will  have  been  in  vain. 

Any  batch  of  burr  dye  should  be  always 
tested  before  it  is  used,  and,  if  possible,  kept 
exactly  uniform  for  all  similar  styles  of  goods. 
Again  it  must  be  applied  in  even  and  regular 
quantities,  and  the  goods  must  always  be  al¬ 
lowed  to  remain  in  the  dye  for  the  same  length 
of  time.  The  dye  is  always  best  in  its  action 
when  perfectly  cold.  However,  not  only  must 
we  use  a  perfectly  cold  burr  dye,  but  at  the 
same  time  the  goods  must  be  also  in  a  cold 
state,  and  to  make  sure  of  this,  give  them  about 
five  minutes’  run  in  cold  water  after  putting 
them  in  the  washer,  but  be  sure  and  have  them 


3° 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


well  drained  before  running  them  through  the 
burr  dye  tank,  or  adding  the  dye  in  the  washer, 
provided  no  special  burr  dye  tank  is  used.  In 
the  latter  case  never  leave  water  in  the  washer 
to  thus  reduce  the  dye,  for  such  a  procedure 
will  result  in  uneven  work.  Always  reduce  your 
dye  to  the  exact  strength  wanted  before  giving 
it  to  the  goods. 


Dewing  Process 

I  should  like  to  have  your  opinion  of  the 
efficiency  of  the  “dewing”  process  in  the  shrink¬ 
ing  of  woolens.  I  understand  that  some  of  the 
mills  that  stamp  their  goods  “London  shrunk” 
are  using  this  method.  They  suggest  giving 
the  goods  a  light  steam  sponging  before  cutting, 
which  we  often  find  not  only  causes  shrinkage 
but  cockles  the  goods.  The  results  are  not  as 
good  as  with  similar  fabrics  on  which  the“London 
shrunk”  process  has  not  been  used. 

Another  source  of  great  complaint  is  the 
tendency  of  so  many  worsted  and  mercerized 
fabrics  to  cockle  in  the  process  of  steaming. 
Is  there  not  something  in  this  latter  day  process 
of  manufacture  that  is  responsible  for  both  the 
evils  herein  mentioned?  Sponger  (970). 

The  “London  shrunk”  process  consists  in 
dampening  the  goods  heavily,  either  with  a 
“dewing”  machine  or  by  rolling  the  pieces 
between  the  damp  leaders.  After  the  cloth 
absorbs  sufficient  moisture,  the  pieces  are 
pressed  in  a  plate  press.  In  this  way  all  stretch¬ 
ing  of  the  goods,  either  widthways  or  length- 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


3r 

ways  is  avoided.  This  process  is  rather  laborious 
and  slow. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  larger  production  and 
reduce  the  cost  of  labor,  a  number  of  mills  have 
adopted  a  different  process  which  they  never¬ 
theless  call  “London  shrunk.”  Ordinarily  it 
consists  in  dampening  the  cloth  lightly  on  a 
“dewing”  machine.  The  pieces  are  then  run 
through  a  rotary  press  which  stretches  them 
lengthways.  They  are  then  dampened  again 
lightly  on  the  “dewing”  machine  and  pressed 
a  second  time  in  the  rotary,  which  stretches 
them  still  more.  This  process  naturally  results 
in  leaving  the  fabric  in  such  a  condition  that 
it  will  shrink  when  sponged.  The  process  is 
wrongly  called  “London  shrunk”  and  in  all 
probability  was  used  for  finishing  the  goods 
under  examination.  Finisher. 


Slipping  of  the  Cylinder  of  a  Rotary  Press 

We  are  making  large  quantities  of  piece  dyed 
beavers  and  kerseys  and  have  a  great  deal  of 
difficulty  with  the  press.  The  cylinder  slips  on 
the  goods  so  that  the  cloth  does  not  pass  through 
the  machine,  but  wrinkles  at  the  edges  and 
sometimes  in  the  center  of  the  pieces.  At 
times  the  difficulty  is  so  bad  that  the  cloth 
remains  stationary  while  the  cylinder  is  running. 
We  have  repeatedly  rusted  the  cylinder,  but 
this  does  not  seem  to  be  entirely  effective. 
The  cloth  runs  somewhat  better  after  the  rusting, 
but  the  trouble  soon  reappears.  Can  you  give 
us  a  remedy?  Cylinder  (162). 


32 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


From  the  description  given  of  the  trouble  by 
our  correspondent,  we  would  judge  that  the 
principal  cause  is  gum  or  dyestuff  on  the  goods, 
which  fills  up  the  surface  of  the  cylinder  and 
reduces  the  friction  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
machine  cannot  carry  the  goods  through.  This 
trouble  is  very  liable  to  occur  with  piece  dyed 
goods,  where  more  or  less  of  the  dyestuff  is  left 
in  the  fabric.  Heavily  burr-dyed  goods  are 
also  very  liable  to  the  difficulty.  The  burr 
dye  is  in  the  form  of  a  loose  dye  attached  me¬ 
chanically  to  the  goods  and  easily  separated 
from  the  fibre.  To  remedy  this  difficulty  the 
goods  must  be  cleaned  more  thoroughly,  the 
surplus  dyestuff  or  dirt  being  removed;  the 
cylinder  should  be  well  rusted.  It  may  be  that 
the  cylinder  has  become  so  smooth  as  to  necess¬ 
itate  draw  filing.  To  rust  the  cylinder  the 
press  beds  can  be  run  back  from  the  cylinder, 
and  the  brass  jackets  can  be  taken  out  or  they 
may  be  protected  thoroughly  from  water  and 
acid  by  burlap  or  other  means.  The  ordinary 
commercial  sulphuric  acid  full  strength  or  muri¬ 
atic  acid  half  strength  should  be  applied  and 
the  cylinder  left  to  stand  over  night.  In  the 
morning  the  surplus  acid  is  well  washed  off 
and  examination  will  determine  whether  the 
rust  has  sufficiently  developed.  During  this 
operation  the  cylinder  should  be  cold.  With 
clean  goods  we  do  not  think  our  correspondent 
will  then  have  any  difficulty. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


33 


Steaming  and  Stretching 

Kindly  explain  the  process  of  steaming  and 
stretching  or  boiling  and  stretching  and  the 
results  aimed  at.  Hooper  (1344). 

The  steaming  and  stretching  machine  ordi¬ 
narily  receives  the  cloth  from  the  extractors, 
and  has  for  its  object  to  smooth  out  all  wrinkles, 
prevent  lightning  effects  caused  by  too  long 
fulling,  to  sadden  the  cloth  to  its  natural  state, 
and  finally  to  wind  the  cloth  under  operation  on 
to  wood  rolls  ready  for  the  gig  or  napper  as 
the  case  may  be.  For  still  further  improving 
the  lustre  and  feel  of  face  finished  goods  before 
their  going  to  the  dryers,  as  well  as  to  remove 
wrinkles  and  creases  in  cloth  that  has  laid 
around  for  a  long  time,  and  for  steaming  and 
stretching  in  general,  this  machine  will  be 
especially  found  of  advantage. 

The  cloth  usually  is  run  into  the  machine 
from  the  open  fold,  and  passes  first  through 
tension  bars,  then  over  the  first  stretch  or 
expansion  roll  to  the  second  stretch  or  expansion 
roll.  Between  these  two  rolls  there  are  several 
lengths  of  perforated  pipe  by  which  the  steam 
is  let  onto  the  cloth  as  it  passes  over  the  fabric, 
thus  receiving  the  cloth  while  it  is  in  a  perfectly 
smooth  condition,  and  from  where  it  goes 
directly  to  the  winding  roll.  The  machine  will 
handle  the  heaviest  or  lightest  goods  equally 
well,  as  the  tension  of  the  cloth  and  the  hard¬ 
ness  of  the  roll  can  be  regulated.  All  the  run- 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


34 

ning  parts  of  the  machine  are  gears  or  sprockets 
and  chain,  so  there  are  no  belts  to  be  affected 
by  the  water  or  steam.  Some  of  these  machines 
are  built  to  fold  the  cloth  off  onto  the  floor, 
in  place  of  winding  it  on  a  roll,  again  some  have 
both  attachments  applied,  either  one  of  which 
can  be  used  as  the  case  may  require. 

This  machine  is  also  built  with  a  boiling  pan, 
so  that  the  cloth  runs  through  boiling  water,  the 
latter  being  boiled  by  a  perforated  steam  pipe 
roll,  set  in  the  pan,  and  in  which  instance  the 
machine  is  termed  a  “boiling  and  stretching 
machine.”  Some  machines  again  are  built 
having  both  attachments  (steaming  and  boiling) 
added,  either  one  of  which  may  be  used.  Again 
the  regular  steam  box  can  be  substituted  for 
the  perforated  steam  pipes,  if  preferred.  Larger 
machines  having  three  stretch  rolls,  double  the 
steaming  capacity,  and  a  larger  brush  with  two 
or  three  cloth  contacts  are  also  built. 

All  worsted  fabrics  that  are  to  receive  a  finish 
that  requires  gigging  should  be  taken  from  the 
washers  to  the  steaming  and  stretching  or 
boiling  and  stretching  machine  and  rolled  up 
to  give  them  a  smooth  face  free  from  wrinkles 
and  pits  and  streaks.  They  should  remain  on 
the  rolls  from  two  to  three  hours.  French. 


Waterproofing  Woolen  Goods 

Will  you  please  give  us  a  simple  receipt  for 
waterproofing  woolen  goods?  We  have  no  dye 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


35 

tubs  or  tanks  and  want  some  simple  and  in¬ 
expensive  process  that  does  not  require  much 
special  machinery  or  expert  knowledge  of 
chemistry,  as  we  have  no  one  in  our  employ 
with  that  knowledge.  Colorado  (637). 

There  is  a  new  process  for  waterproofing 
woolen  goods  recently  brought  out  which  would 
seem  to  answer  the  requirements  of  our  cor¬ 
respondent.  The  only  machine  required  is  a 
washer  and  the  finish  is  produced  by  giving  one 
run  in  the  washer. 

The  following  directions  are  given  by  the 
manufacturers : 

Dissolve  80  pounds  of  Squantum  paste  in  a 
50-gallon  barrel.  Put  the  paste  in  barrel  and 
add  20  gallons  of  water;  heat  up  to  boiling  and 
then  fill  barrel  with  water  and  thoroughly  mix. 
This  makes  a  stock  liquor  sufficient  to  treat 
1,400  yards  of  medium  weight  goods. 

To  run  200  yards  of  goods:  the  water¬ 
proofing  is  to  be  done  in  washing  machine,  and 
the  goods  should  first  be  wet  out  in  hot  water, 
and  only  enough  water  used  to  cover  the  goods. 
While  goods  are  running  add  7  gallons  of  stock 
liquor  from  the  barrel  already  prepared,  and  run 
in  this  bath  for  about  one  hour,  keeping  tem¬ 
perature  up  if  convenient  to  do  so.  Now  fill 
washer  1-3  to  %  full  of  cold  water  and  without 
stopping  goods  add  8  pounds  Squantum  liquor 
and  run  for  five  or  ten  minutes  longer.  Then 
extract  lightly,  dry  and  press. 

The  quantity  of  paste  and  liquor  to  be  used 
may  be  varied  according  to  the  nature  of  the 


36  KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 

fabric.  Light  weight,  loosely  woven  goods  will 
require  more  than  a  closely  woven  fabric. 

It  takes  2  pounds  of  the  liquor  for  every  3 
pounds  of  the  paste  used.  The  cost  figures 
from  to  2  cents  per  yard. 


Cloth  Boards 

I  wish  you  would  draw  the  attention  of  manu¬ 
facturers  to  the  wretched  habit  of  some  of  them, 
who  use  rough  lap  boards  for  cloth.  It  frequently 
makes  from  five  to  seven  yards  on  the  inside  of 
the  pieces  almost  unmerchantable.  By  using  a 
little  more  care  and  properly  papering  the 
boards  they  would  save  the  jobbers  no  end  of 
annoyance  and  themselves  a  lot  of  claims. 

Cloth  Examiner  (984). 

We  have  frequently  called  the  attention  of 
manufacturers  to  the  damage  resulting  from 
this  very  bad  habit.  There  is  no  excuse  for  it. 
If  manufacturers  don’t  want  to  take  the  bother 
of  papering  the  boards  they  should  insist  that 
they  get  properly  finished  cloth  boards,  or  they 
can  procure  patent  cloth  boards  made  of  paper 
and  wood  which  need  no  covers  and  which  are 
very  much  lighter  than  wood  boards  and 
equally  strong,  or  the  specially  designed  paper 
cloth  boards  which  overcome  the  objections  of 
our  correspondent, 


Face  Finish 

Will  you  explain  for  me  the  secret  of  producing 
a  good  face  or  lustre  finish  on  broadcloths, 
beavers,  kerseys,  and  such  goods? 

Waddell  (1463). 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS  37 

In  the  finishing-  of  broadcloths,  kerseys, 
beavers  and  goods  of  similar  character,  re¬ 
quiring  the  face  or  luster  finish,  it  is  not  infre¬ 
quently  the  case  that  too  much  is  expected  of 
the  steamng  or  boiling  process,  to  the  neglect 
or  oversight  of  the  importance  of  other  parts 
of  the  work. 

The  prevailing  idea,  which  is  only  partly 
correct,  that  the  steaming  produces  the  luster, 
is  often  misleading,  and  in  the  case  of  young 
finishers  who  have  had  little  experience  on  this 
class  of  work,  tends  to  lead  to  imperfect  results. 

The  writer’s  attention  was  recently  called  to 
two  instances  of  mills  on  this  class  of  work, 
where  the  results  were  not  satisfactory;  and 
the  impression  on  the  part  of  the  manager  in 
each  case  seemed  to  be  that  there  was  some 
serious  fault  or  deficiency  in  the  steaming  of  the 
goods.  We  took  pains  to  procure  samples  of 
the  goods,  and  found  that  there  was  a  difficulty 
existing  which  could  never  be  corrected  in  the 
steaming:  a  difficulty  which  at  once  suggested 
the  need  of  more  skill  or  care  in  preparing  the 
cloth  for  steaming.  Steaming  alone  can  never 
develop  a  luster  of  any  consequence,  and  the 
proper  preparation  and  condition  of  the  cloth 
for  steaming  is  equally  important  with  the 
steaming  itself. 

To  demonstrate  this  point  we  might  ask 
Waddell  to  take  a  piece  of  broadcloth  having 
a  good  luster  finish,  and  note  the  difference  in 
the  appearance  of  the  face  and  back.  It  will 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


38 

be  found  that  however  perfect  may  be  the 
luster  on  the  face,  there  will  be  far  less,  if  any , 
on  the  back.  If  steaming  produces  a  luster, 
why  does  not  the  back  show  it  as  well  as  the 
face?  Simply  because  the  back  has  not  been 
prepared,  by  a  suitable  gigging  to  bring  about 
such  a  result. 

It  is  impossible  to  secure  a  satisfactory  luster 
upon  a  cloth  having  the  fibers  matted  and  lying 
in  every  direction,  as  they  appear  in  the  felted 
surface  of  the  cloth  as  it  comes  from  the  fulling 
mill. 

The  raising  of  a  suitable  nap,  and  above  all 
a  perfect  parallelism  of  all  the  fibers  showing 
upon  the  surface  of  the  cloth  are  as  important 
as  the  steaming.  The  luster  is  a  characteristic 
of  the  wool  fibers,  and  the  gigging  and  sub¬ 
sequent  steaming  only  tend  to  put  them  into 
a  position  and  condition  to  show  the  natural 
luster  to  the  best  advantage,  and  to  insure  its 
permanency  upon  the  face  of  the  cloth. 

We  found  by  a  careful  examination  of  the 
samples  above  referred  to,  that  the  gigging  had 
been  insufficient.  Many  of  the  fibers  upon  the 
face  of  the  cloth  were  still  in  their  felted  con¬ 
dition,  showing  through  the  scanty  nap,  which 
was  not  sufficient  to  wholly  cover  up  the  tangled 
fibers  beneath.  All  the  visible  fibers  upon  the 
face  of  the  cloth  should  have  been  included  in 
the  nap,  and  properly  laid  by  a  wet  gigging  or 
brushing  preparatory  to  being  given  a  perma¬ 
nency  by  the  steaming. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


39 


The  best  results  are  obtainable  only  by  having 
a  nap  that  will  thoroughly  cover  the  felt  and 
threads  beneath,  and  making  sure  it  is  well  laid 
before  the  steaming  is  done.  It  is  necessary 
to  have  a  suitable  felt  from  which  to  produce 
the  required  nap,  and  if  this  is  lacking,  the 
fault  is  either  in  the  fulling  or  in  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  the  cloth  in  the  loom.  Some  finishers  use 
the  wire  napper  for  a  part  of  the  work,  and 
finish  up  with  the  teasels,  which  is  an  excellent 
plan.  Where  the  work  is  done  wholly  upon 
the  gig  it  is  best  to  start  the  work  with  old  and 
well  worn  teasels,  as  sharp  teasels  will  act  too 
harshly  upon  the  unbroken  felted  surface  of 
the  cloth,  tearing  out  fibers  that  should  remain 
as  a  part  of  the  nap. 

As  the  work  proceeds  sharper  teasels  should 
be  inserted  in  order  to  work  effectively  through 
the  nap  already  produced,  reaching  the  bottom 
and  adding  to  the  density  of  the  nap.  If  the 
work  is  done  on  a  double  cylinder  gig,  the 
cylinders  should  be  run  in  opposite  directions, 
with  a  grade  of  better  work  in  the  second  than 
in  the  first  cylinder,  until  the  gigging  is  near 
completion,  when  both  cylinders  should  be  run 
in  the  same  direction  to  finish.  Where  a  single 
cylinder  gig  is  employed,  reversing  the  cylinder 
or  the  cloth  will  serve  the  same  purpose  as 
running  the  two  double  cylinders  opposite. 

Goods  composed  of  all  wool  stock  will  usually 
stand  and  require  the  raising  of  about  all  the 
fibers  constituting  the  felted  face  of  the  cloth; 


40 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


but  care  should  be  observed  not  to  work  upon 
the  threads  of  the  cloth  to  injure  them.  Some¬ 
times  in  the  finishing  of  low  grade  goods,  having 
considerable  shoddy,  it  is  advisable  to  hold  off 
a  little,  leaving  a  part  of  the  felt  intact,  but 
raising  sufficient  to  cover  it  well.  This  gives  a 
certain  stability  to  the  cloth  and  avoids  the 
danger  of  tender  goods.  At  all  events,  the  nap 
should  be  thoroughly  laid,  and  all  visible  fibers 
parallel  in  order  for  the  steaming  to  do  justice 
to  the  work.  Elmo. 


Unclean  Goods 


We  have  on  hand  a  large  stock  of  finished 
cloth  which  is  off  shade.  The  goods  do  not 
seem  to  be  gigged  or  sheared  uniformly.  Every 
effort  has  been  made  to  set  the  machinery  to 
correct  these  defects,  but  we  have  not  been 
successful.  Can  you  advise  where  to  look  for 
the  trouble?  '  *  Miller  (1406). 


It  is  very  probable  that  the  cloth  is  not 
thoroughly  cleaned,  and  if  this  is  the  case  it 
cannot  be  properly  gigged,  sheared,  or  pressed. 
We  were  called  at  one  time  to  a  mill  to  correct 
some  difficulties  that  the  finisher  was  having 
in  his  work,  and  were  told  that,  as  in  Miller  s 
case,  the  goods  did  not  seem  to  gig  or  shear 
uniformly,  and  that  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  get  out  two  pieces  of  the  same  style  that 
would  shade  alike. 

When  we  looked  over  the  work,  we  found  the 
rolls  on  the  rotary  gigs  were  wound  with  strips 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


41 


of  cloth  along  the  middle,  so  as  to  force  the 
teazles  to  clear  up  the  goods  at  that  point. 

In  order  to  shear  the  goods,  they  would  run 
them  until  the  sides  were  clear,  and  then  with 
a  girl  on  each  side  holding  a  sheet  of  paper 
over  the  cloth  at  the  sides,  to  avoid  shearing 
more  at  those  points,  the  blades  were  lowered 
so  as  to  shear  the  middle  of  the  piece,  all  the 
time  cursing  someone  for  making  the  cloth  with 
slack  sides  and  selvages. 

Every  effort  the  finisher  had  put  forth  had 
been  to  adjust  or  readjust  his  machines  in  the 
dry  finishing  or  gig  room,  without  giving  a 
thought  to  the  possibility  that  the  condition 
of  the  goods  brought  about  by  his  own  inability 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  trouble. 

I  first  went  to  the  fulling. room  and  adjusted 
the  strength  and  body  of  the  soap  to  suit. 
Then  started  a  set  of  pieces  and  followed  them 
through  to  see  that  they  received  the  treat¬ 
ment  required.  In  the  meantime  we  pulled  off 
the  extra  laggings  that  had  been  wound  on  the 
gig  rolls,  while  the  finisher,  who  was  still  on 
deck,”  swore  it  was  a  mistake,  saying  that  if 
the  goods  would  not  clear  up  with  the  laggings 
they  certainly  would  not  without. 

Then  we  made  corrections  at  the  shears, 
straightening  the  rest  and  blades  that  had  been 
doctored  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  do  an  im¬ 
possibility. 

When  the  goods  came  around  they  gigged 
and  sheared  as  true  and  uniform  as  one  could 
wish. 


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The  trouble  above  referred  to  represented  two 
extremes.  First  in  dirty  goods  and  secondly 
in  ignorance  of  the  requirements  in  the  fulling 
and  scouring.  When  the  wet  finishing  is  skill¬ 
fully  and  properly  done  the  rest  of  ‘the  work  is 
easy,  otherwise  impossible  In  this  case  the 
grease  in  the  goods  was  never  properly  started 
and  the  fulling  could  not  be  uniform  nor  perfect. 

The  goods  ‘worried  up”  instead  of  being 
fulled  up,  the  time  for  the  work  thereby  length¬ 
ened  to  the  injury  of  the  colors;  and  as  some 
were  run  a  longer  and  some  a  shorter  time 
owing  to  the  varying  of  the  imperfect  con¬ 
ditions,  so  the  colors  were  varied  in  shade  and 
the  goods  in  uniformity  of  felt  and  finish. 

When  coming  from  the  washer  they  were  not 
clean,  except  on  the  sides,  where  they  were 
more  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  soap.  For 
it  will  be  found  that,  as  a  rule,  dirty  goods  are 
the  dirtiest  in  the  middle,  which  explains  the 
conditions  in  which  the  goods  in  question  went 
to  the  dry  finishing  room. 

After  getting  the  work  under  way,  we  found 
no  difficulty  in  matching  the  goods  or  in  fin¬ 
ishing  uniformly.  Elmo. 

Loom  and  Finished  Weights  of  Woolen 

Goods 

Can  you  give  me  a  rule  for  figuring  the  shrink¬ 
age  necessary  to  give  a  specified  finished  weight? 

Deininger  (140  ). 

If  the  loom  weight  less  the  shrinkage  leaves 
the  desired  finished  weight,  there  is  nothing  for 


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43 


the  finisher  to  do  so  far  as  weight  is  concerned, 
but  when  there  is  a  shortage  he  must  make  it 
up  in  the  fulling  mill.  On  certain  grades  of 
goods  this  weight  is  obtained  by  fulling  with 
flocks,  but  the  usual  method  is  to  shrink  the 
goods  lengthways,  as  well  as  in  width,  and  by 
diminishing  the  yards  increase  the  weight.  A 
proper  method  of  calculating  just  how  much 
to  shrink  the  goods  in  order  to  obtain  a  given 
weight  will  be  best  explained  by  an  example. 

Let  us  suppose  that  we  are  running  on  a 
20-ounce  cassimere.  We  have  carefully  weighed 
the  sample  ends  or  pieces  in  the  grease  and 
again  when  finished,  and  find  that  there  is  a 
shrinkage  in  finishing  of  20  per  cent.  Our 
pieces  from  the  loom  show  23  ounces,  and  we 
are  given  to  understand  that  they  will  come 
this  weight  right  along;  so  it  is  evident  that 
we  must  make  up  weight  in  order  to  have  our 
goods  finish  20  ounces  as  required,  as  23  ounces 
(loom  weight)  less  20  per  cent,  only  figure  18.4 
ounces. 

This  difference  in  weight  must  be  obtained 
by  shrinking  the  goods  in  length,  and  this  is 
accomplished  by  weighting  the  trap  on  the 
fulling  mill,  provided  with  a  lever  for  that 
purpose.  To  arrive  at  the  amount  to  be  shrunk 
to  give  our  weight  we  figure  as  follows: 

23  oz.  (loom  weight)  less  20  per  cent.  =  18.4. 

18.4X36  (inches  to  a  yard)  =662.4. 

662.4-j-20  (oz.  per  yard  desired)  =  33.12 

36  inches — 33.12  =  2.88,  or  nearly  3  inches  per 
yard  to  be  taken  up  in  length. 


44 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


Every  piece  should  be  figured  separately 
where  any  variation  in  loom  weights  appear, 
in  order  to  insure  exact  and  uniform  finished 
weights.  There  should  be  little  variation  in 
loom  weights  if  proper  care  be  taken  in  the 
weave  room  and  other  departments — not  more 
than  half  an  ounce  per  yard  at  most,  and  if 
the  finisher  observes  more  variation  he  should 
draw  the  attention  of  the  responsible  parties 
to  same.  While  no  hard  and  fast  rule  can  be 
laid  down  to  cover  all  kinds  of  goods,  it  is 
usually  expedient  to  allow  a  little  extra  take-up 
over  and  above  that  figured  on,  in  order  to  take 
care  of  any  stretching  the  goods  may  receive 
in  drying,  napping  and.  any  other  process 
subsequent  to  fulling.  The  amount  of  such 
stretching  can  easily  be  ascertained  by  careful 
measurements  before  and  after  the  processes 
mentioned.  Chas.  A.  Heddle. 


Wrinkles  in  Worsted  Goods 

Can  you  kindly  give  a  reason  for  the  wrinkles 
and  cracks  in  worsted  goods  and  method  of 
removing  same  ?  Salem  (1101). 

If  the  goods  are  laid  out  properly,  reeded  so 
as  to  come  off  the  loom  not  too  wide,  the  finisher 
will  be  able  to  bring  his  goods  out  of  the  washers 
or  fulling  mills  a  fair  width,  say  56  or  57  inches, 
and  have  them  come  from  the  drying  machine 
at  59  inches,  even  in  cheap  goods.  Under 
these  conditions  there  will  be  no  trouble  with 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


45 


cracks  and  wrinkles.  If  the  goods  are  not  laid 
out  too  wide  they  ought  to  be  free  from  wrinkles. 
I  would  also  suggest  that  a  small  pot  eye  be 
used  in  the  washer.  If  a  large  one  is  used  I 
would  advise  putting  in  two  pieces  in  each  eye. 

Another  factor  is  the  soap.  Any  one  using 
a  poor  soap  cannot  bring  his  goods  to  a  proper 
width  without  having  poor  results  and  badly 
wrinkled  goods.  Conditions  are  so  different  in 
every  mill  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  is 
best  until  one  steps  into  the  mill  that  is  having 
the  trouble  and  sees  for  himself.  Richmond. 


Labor  Cost  of  Finishing 

We  are  looking  into  the  labor  cost  of  finishing 
kerseys  and  would  appreciate  any  material 
you  might  give  us  on  the  subject. 

North  West  (1282). 

It  goes  without  saying  that  a  yard  of  good 
quality  of  kerseys  cannot  be  finished  at  as  low 
a  labor  cost  as  a  yard  of  union  cassimere,  but 
after  all  it  often  happens  that  a  kersey  is  in 
reality  finished  at  a  less  cost  for  labor  than  a 
yard  of  union  cassimere.  It  depends  in  a  great 
measure  upon  the  place  where  the  goods  are 
handled.  This  of  course  brings  the  matter 
down  to  a  question  of  management  and  it  is 
in  this  direction  where  the  difference  in  the 
cost  must  be  explained. 

As  an  illustration  of  this  point  we  will  give 
the  result  of  finishing  a  yard  of  medium  grade 


46 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


kersey  in  two  different  mills,  and  in  order  to 
arrive  at  a  fair  average,  a  period  of  six  months 
has  been  selected.  This  covers  part  of  the 
slack  season  and  part  of  the  rush  season.  In 
the  first  mill  the  account  at  the  end  of  six 
months  stood  thus:  Production  for  first  month, 
15,243  yds.;  second  month,  14,348  yds.;  third 
month,  16,252  yds.;  fourth  month,  17,276  yds.; 
fifth  month,  19,248  yds.;  and  the  sixth  month, 
18,349  yds.;  making  a  total  for  the  six  months 
of  100,516  yds. 

During  this  time  there  were  employed  in 
the  finishing  room : 


1  overseer,  at  .  $3.00  per  day. 

1  percher,  at .  2.25  per  day. 

1  shearer,  at .  1.75  per  day. 

1  gigger,  at .  1.75  per  day. 

2  helpers,  at  $1.25  each .  2.50  per  day. 

1  fuller,  at .  1.50  per  day. 

1  helper,  at .  1.25  per  day. 

2  men  at  washer,  at  $1.25  each .  .  2.50  per  day. 

1  man  for  steaming  and  wet  gig¬ 
ging  .  1.50  per  day. 

1  helper,  at .  1.25  per  day. 

1  dryer  tender,  at .  1.00  per  day. 

1  general  helper  for  wet  end  of 

room,  at  .  1.25  per  day. 

1  boy  for  brush,  at .  1.00  per  day. 

1  man  at  press,  at .  1.25  per  day. 

1  man  for  general  work  at  dry 

end .  1.25  per  day. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


47 


2  burlers  and  1  sewer,  at  $1.00 


each .  3.00  per  day. 

4  speckers,  at  75  cents  each  ...  3.00  per  day. 

Total . $31.00  per  day. 


The  working  period  was  26  days  for  the  first 
month,  27  days  the  next,  25  days  the  third, 
24  days  the  fourth,  and  26  each  for  the  fifth 
and  sixth  months,  making  in  all  154  days  at 
$31.00  per  day,  a  total  of  $4,774.00  for  the 
finishing  of  100,516  yards  of  cloth,  or  4%  cents 
per  yard.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  wages 
paid  the  different  employees  were  equal  to  the 
average,  and  the  production  shows  that  the 
help  were  fairly  well  employed  during  the  whole 
time. 

At  the  second  mill  where  the  cost  per  yard 
was  obtained,  the  conditions  were  somewhat 
different,  although  the  goods  made  were  of  the 
same  grade  and  quality  and  the  finishing  ca¬ 
pacity  of  the  mill  in  point  of  number  of  looms 
was  equal  in  all  respects  to  the  first-named 


mill.  Here  was  found : 

1  overseer,  at  .  $2.75  per  day. 

2  shear  tenders,  at  $1.50  each  .  .  3.00  per  day. 

2  fullers,  at  $1.50  each  .  3.00  per  day. 

2  helpers,  at  $1.25  each .  2 . 50  per  day. 

2  giggers,  at  $1.50  each  .  3.00  per  day. 

1  helper,  at .  1.25  per  day. 

2  men  at  steaming,  at  $1.25  each  2 . 50  per  day. 

2  men  around  room,  at  $1.25 

each .  2 . 50  per  day. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


48 

2  boys  on  dryer,  at  75  cents  each  1 . 50  per  day. 

1  man  at  extractor,  at .  1 .25  per  day. 

1  man  at  brush,  at  .  1.25  per  day. 

1  man  at  press,  at .  1 . 25  per  day. 

2  men  at  perch,  at  $1.25  each  .  .  2.50  per  day. 

1  helper,  at .  1 . 25  per  day. 

4  burlers,  at  75  cents  each .  3.00  per  day. 

2  sewers,  at  75  cents  each .  1.50  per  day. 

6  speckers,  at  75  cents  each  ...  4.50  per  day. 

Total,  . • . $38 . 50  per  day. 


The  production  for  six  months  was  12,350 
yds.,  12,875  yds.,  13,425  yds.,  15,280  yds., 
14,320  yds.,  and  13,890  yds.,  making  a  total 
of  82,140  yds.  The  working  time  for  the  six 
months  was  155  days,  as  follows:  26,  26,  25, 
26,  26,  26,  thus  bringing  the  cost  to  $5,967.50. 
This  divided  by  82,140  yards  gives  the  cost  per 
yard  7  1-5  cents,  nearly. 

These  two  instances  of  the  actual  cost  for 
labor  furnishes  much  material  for  careful  study, 
and  to  one  not  conversant  with  the  conditions 
obtaining  in  mills  it  will  hardly  seem  credible 
that  such  a  difference  could  exist.  Let  us, 
therefore,  add  a  few  words  by  way  of  explan¬ 
ation.  The  figures  given  above  are  taken  from 
personal  experience,  and  the  difference  found  in 
the  two  places  cannot  wholly  be  laid  at  the 
door  of  the  finishing  department.  In  both 
places  the  finishing  was  kept  up  to  the  looms 
so  that  in  the  case  of  the  second  named  mill 
the  help  must  have  had  an  easy  time  of  it, 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


49 


•while  at  the  first  mill  things  were  on  a  hustle 
to  keep  up  with  the  looms.  This  shows  that 
the  production  of  the  second  mill  might  have 
been  larger  and  the  showing  in  the  labor  cost 
much  more  favorable. 

The  second  mill  could  not  come  up  to  the 
standard  of  the  first  mill  and  it  is  a  question 
if  it  could  have  handled  the  amount  of  cloth 
which  was  put  through  the  first  mill  with  less 
help.  The  number  of  burlers  employed  in  the 
second  mill  indicates  that  the  cloth  came  to 
them  from  the  looms  in  a  much  poorer  condition 
than  at  the  other  mill.  This  indicates  that 
either  the  preparatory  work  was  sadly  neglected 
or  the  management  were  trying  to  produce  an 
article  from  inferior  stock,  thus  trying  to  increase 
their  profits.  This  turned  out  as  it  always  will, 
for  it  is  a  pure  case  of  saving  at  the  spigot  and 
wasting  at  the  bung  hole.  Finisher. 


Defects  After  Sponging  Low-Grade  Woolens 

We  have  had  considerable  trouble  with  cloth 
similar  to  the  enclosed  sample.  The  fancy 
threads  are  tighter  than  the  others  and  show  a 
drawn  effect  before  sponging.  This  is  even 
more  prominent  after  the  ordinary  sponging, 
and  the  goods  cannot  be  sold  unless  this  defect 
is  remedied.  Can  you  suggest  a  remedy  ? 

Finisher  (1084). 

I  find  the  stock  in  the  fancy  thread  is  different 
from  that  in  the  body  of  the  goods.  The 
former  is  made  from  long,  coarse  wool  while 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


5° 

the  ground  work  of  the  cloth  consists  of  a  mix¬ 
ture  of  cotton,  short  wool  and  shoddy.  When 
finished  the  fancy  thread  is  shorter  than  the 
threads  of  the  ground  work,  consequently  the 
strain  comes  on  these  fancy  threads  causing 
the  difficulty  of  which  “Finisher”  complains. 
I  would  suggest  that  “Finisher”  wind  several 
yards  of  cotton  warp  cloth  around  the  cylinder 
of  the  sponging  machine  so  as  to  retard  the 
force  of  the  steam.  The  smaller  the  cylinder 
the  less  trouble  you  will  have.  The  latest 
sponging  machines  are  all  made  with  small 
cylinders.  After  the  goods  leave  the  cylinder 
see  that  they  are  tightly  wound  on  the  wooden 
roll  and  left  to  cool.  The  only  thorough-going 
remedy  for  this  trouble  is  to  change  the  con¬ 
struction  of  the  fabric.  Greenwich. 


Why  Fulled  Goods  Stretch  Lengthwise 

Why  will  fulled  goods  stretch  lengthwise  and 
come  back  to  the  same  length  as  when  taken 
from  the  loom  after  having  been  shrunk  in 
length  three  to  four  inches  per  yard? 

Titus  (1399). 

Of  course  on  a  piece  of  woolen  goods,  say  a 
twill  weave,  where  the  yarn  is  not  hard  twisted 
they  should  full  easily  under  almost  any  ordinary 
treatment  in  the  fulling  mills.  But  take  a 
piece  with  hard  twisted  yarn  and  the  ends  packed 
closely  in  the  warp  and  also  the  filling  pounded 
in  hard,  and  if  the  finisher  uses  a  heavy  soap, 


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51 


the  goods  will  full  so  long  that  the  life  or  vitality 
of  the  stock  is  killed  and  the  fibers  lose  their 
hold  in  the  washer,  and  gig,  and  stretch  back 
where  they  started  from.  This  is  the  result 
of  excessive  fulling  and  the  only  remedy  the 
finisher  has  at  his  command  is  to  thin  down 
the  soap,  draw  down  on  the  springs  of  the  mills 
and  keep  the  goods  warm  and  free  from  draughts. 
The  goods  will  then  leave  the  mills  in  a  strong, 
healthy  condition,  the  colors  bright  and  the 
cloth  having  that  nice,  moist  feeling  that  the 
trade  likes  so  well,  and  strength  to  resist  the 
strain  of  the  subsequent  finishing  process  with¬ 
out  losing  any  shrinkage  the  fuller  may  have 
gained  in  the  mills. 

I  once  secured  a  position  in  a  mill  making 
6-4  union  cassimeres.  They  were  having  a  very 
serious  and  at  first  a  puzzling  trouble  with  their 
fulling.  The  goods  would  come  along  all  right 
for  a  day  or  two  and  then  the  trouble  would 
appear:  the  goods  would  chafe  and  full  so 

long  that  when  up  to  width  they  were  so  tender 
that  they  were  practically  unmerchantable  and 
so  it  worked  intermittently  good  and  bad,  and 
at  first  sight,  without  any  apparent  reason. 
The  man  who  ran  the  mills  had  been  discharged 
and  the  next  man  had  started  out  with  no  better 
success. 

I  set  myself  to  find  the  trouble  and  was  able 
to  do  so,  luckily,  on  its  first  appearance.  The  mills 
were  ranged  with  the  back  against  a  stone  wall, 
having  no  doors  or  windows,  while  the  front 


52 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


was  opposite  a  row  of  windows  and  doors  thickly 
set  in  a  wooden  shed  built  onto  the  main  build¬ 
ing.  The  windows  and  doors  were  not  close 
fitting.  Now  here  was  the  cause  of  the  trouble 
when  the  wind  was  blowing  against  the  stone 
wall  everything  was  all  right,  but  when  it  veered 
around  so  as  to  blow  in  at  the  windows  and 
doors  the  trouble  began.  The  finisher  was 
doing  his  speck  dyeing  in  the  mills  and  insisted 
on  the  fuller  keeping  the  front  doors  open. 
The  cold  air  from  the  windows  and  doors  strik¬ 
ing  the  goods,  chilled  them  so  that  they  were 
too  long  in  shrinking  and  gained  no  felt,  and 
when  up  to  width  were  the  most  tender  goods 
I  have  ever  seen  and  stretched  back  almost  to 
loom  measurement  in  width.  I  overcame  this 
by  having  the  fuller  keep  the  front  doors  closed 

and  open  the  back  doors. 

The  object  of  the  finisher  in  ordering  the 
doors  kept  open  was  to  prevent  too  many 
shades.  Where  speck  dyeing  is  done  in  the 
mills,  a  few  degrees  of  heat  makes  another 

I  may  say  I  worked  there  three  and  one- 
half  years  and  never  saw  another  tender  piece. 

I  remember  a  case  where  I  was  fulling  all- 
wool  overcoatings,  a  loose  weave  to  be  shrunk 
eight  inches  to  the  yard  in  length;  the  goods 
would  shrink  so  quickly  widthways  that  I  could 
not  get  the  desired  shrinkage  in  length  by  the 
time  the  goods  were  up  in  width,  so  I  had  to 
open  the  doors  and  covers  of  the  mills,  also 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


53 


open  the  windows  and  doors  of  the  room  and 
pile  all  the  weights  on  the  traps  that  the  mill 
would  carry.  Of  course  so  much  weight  on 
the  trasps  kept  the  goods  warm,  but  the  trouble 
was  really  in  the  lay-out  of  the  goods .  they 
should  have  been  reeded  wider  in  the  loom. 

Another  cause  for  goods  stretching  in  length 
is  sometimes  due  to  the  methods  of  the  fuller. 
If  he  has  to  shrink  the  goods  only  three  or  four 
inches  to  the  yard  in  length  he  starts  in  to  full 
the  width  first  and  gets  the  goods  up  to,  say, 
58  inches,  then  he  begins  to  shrink  the  length 
and  may  have  to  use  a  weight  to  do  it  by  the 
time  the  goods  are  up  to  56  inches,  the  desired 
width.  Now  the  fibers  being  knitted  one  way 


before  the  trap  is  put  on  to  shrink  the  length 
they  will  not  have  so  strong  a  hold  as  if  the 
fulling  width  and  length  had  been  started  to¬ 
gether  from  the  first,  and  when  the  tension  of 
the  other  finishing  machinery  is  brought  to 
bear  on  them  they  invariably  stretch.  I  should 
think  that  one-half  to  one  inch  ought  to  be 
enough  to  allow  for  stretch,  but  this  is  easily 
determined  by  making  a  test  of  one  set  of 
pieces. 


Watermarks  on  Worsteds 

How  is  a  watered  effect  caused  on  the  face 
of  worsted  goods?  On  some  classes  of  goods 
this  fault  is  more  prominent  than  on  others 
where  practically  the  same  treatment  is  given. 

Evans  (1322) 


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In  winding  the  fabric  on  a  crab  roller  the 
back  of  the  cloth  is  in  contact  with  the  face 
from  end  to  end.  The  result  of  this  some¬ 
times  is  the  fault  known  as  watering,  where 
the  design  of  the  back  has  been  embossed  on 
the  face,  showing  a  peculiar  wavy  effect.  This 
fault  is  only  visible  when  a  large  area  of  the 
cloth  is  seen  at  one  time,  for  instance,  over 
the  rails  of  a  perch  or  coming  over  a  steaming 
mill,  and  can  rarely  be  seen  in  a  made  up  gar¬ 
ment. 

Very  hard  and  prominent  designs  water 
quickly.  Some  designs  cannot  be  crabbed  at 
all  owing  to  their  susceptibility  for  developing 
this  fault,  and  others  will  only  stand  the  slack¬ 
est  of  tensions.  Twills  and  fancy  designs  generally 
are  not  so  sensitive  to  watering  as  the  closer 
made  fabrics,  and  they  are  also  much  less  liable 
to  crimp. 

Concerning  the  cure  for  watering  there  is 
only  one  way  to  remove  it  and  that  will  not 
answer  in  severe  cases.  The  remedy  is  to 
disturb  the  design  slightly  by  a  good  soap 
scouring.  This  causes  a  shrinkage,  and  the 
fibers  being  moved  a  little  obliterates  the  em¬ 
bossing.  Sergius. 


Streaks  in  Woolen  Goods 

We  are  troubled  by  streaks  and  creases  in 
our  woolens  and  half  woolens  and  would  like 
a  preventative  as  we  understand  it  is  practically 
impossible  to  remedy  them.  Stallings  (1298). 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


55 


Streaks  may  be  caused  before  or  after  the 
fabric  reaches  the  finishing  room,  they  may 
be  caused  during  dressing  the  warp  or  the  weav¬ 
ing,  or  during  one  of  the  various  finishing  processes. 
The  matter  of  irregularities  in  tension  when 
the  warps  are  dressed  may  cause  such  a  vari¬ 
ation  in  the  face  of  the  cloth  that  in  turn  the 
fulling  mill  may  produce  streaks;  however, 
this  sort  of  streakiness  will  not  appear  prom¬ 
inently  unless  we  deal  with  a  double  and  twist 
yarn,  light  and  dark  colors  twisted  together,  etc. 
There  the  variation  will  be  more  apt  to  cause  a 
change  in  shade,  whereas  in  connection  with  a 
solid  color  or  on  an  ordinary  yarn,  no  variation 
would  be  noticed.  If  a  yarn  has  any  tendency 
to  be  unevenly  twisted,  or  to  be  heavy  and  light 
in  places,  there  is  the  same  liability  to  streak¬ 
iness  when  such  a  yarn  gets  into  the  warp. 

However,  the  chief  cause  of  streaks  is  the 
fulling  mill.  In  connection  with  this  machine, 
the  warp  constituting  the  cloth,  the  flocks,  or 
the  operation  of  fulling  as  carried  on,  may  be 
the  cause  of  the  streaks.  For  example,  if  the 
soap  is  poured  out  of  a  spout  on  the  goods, 
and  if  in  turn  we  deal  with  fabrics  which  require 
only  little  fulling,  this  pouring  out  of  the  soap 
may  have  a  tendency  to  result  in  streaks  during 
the  felting  of  the  fabric. 

If  the  goods  are  allowed  to  run  in  folds  and 
remain  there  during  the  fulling  operation,  and 
if  the  latter  is  quick,  everything  is  favorable 
towards  the  production  of  streaks.  If  fabrics 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


56 

require  flocking  a  streaky  appearance  may 
result  in  the  cloth,  from  the  fact  that  the  flocks 
will  act  mainly  along  the  line  of  soaping. 

In  connection  with  the  fabrics  requiring  little 
fulling,  it  will  be  advisable  to  alter  the  position 
of  the’  cloth  in  the  fulling  mills,  from  time  to 
time,  in  order  to  avoid  chances  for  streaks. 

One  of  the  most  frequent  causes  of  this 
trouble  is  the  bunching  of  the  goods  length¬ 
wise  in  set  folds  or  creases,  which  are  not  moved 
or  straightened  out  until  it  is  too  late  to  do 
away  with  them.  In  order  to  remedy  any 
tendency  towards  streaks,  soap  must  be  applied 
uniformly,  flocks  in  the  same  way  put  on  over 
the  whole  fabric  evenly,  and  whenever  possible, 
the  cloth  should  be  frequently  opened  by  the 
operative,  so  it  has  no  tendency  to  run  in  con¬ 
tinual  folds. 

We  now  come  to  the  washer,  and  where  a 
defect  in  the  operation  of  this  machine  will 
frequently  lead  to  streakiness  of  the  cloth  under 
operation.  Bad  or  worn  out  guide  eyes  for  the 
cloth  to  go  through,  bad  or  worn  out  rollers, 
etc.,  will  tend  toward  possible  streaks  and  are 
items  which  must  be  carefully  watched  and 
remedied.  It  will  be  frequently  noticed  how 
the  dirty  soap  suds  roll  back  upon  the  goods 
as  they  pass  over  the  rollers,  and  these  long 
streaks  of  dirty  water  and  suds  must  leave  an 
appearance  of  streakiness  to  the  fabric  if  the 
whole  is  not  thoroughly  removed  in  the  rinsing. 
Here,  as  well  as  in  many  other  processes,  a 


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great  cause  of  streaks  lies  in  defective  seams 
at  the  sewing  together  of  the  ends  of  the  pieces. 
A  bunchy  seam  will  always  tend  to  form  streaks 
not  only  at  the  ends  of  the  piece,  but  even,  at 
times,  far  into  the  goods.  They  must  be  avoide 

at  all  stages.  . 

With  reference  to  the  process  of  gigging  and 
steaming,  the  tension  on  the  fabric  under  oper¬ 
ation  calls  for  care,  since  if  the  fabric  is  not 
uniformly  stretched,  if  not  handled  with  a 
uniform  tension,  or  if  the  rollers  are  worn  out, 

etc.,  streaks  are  apt  to  appear. 

Care  must  also  be  bestowed  on  the  shear, 
the  brushes  must  be  all  right,  and  if  worn  must 
either  be  clipped  down  or  renewed.  The  brushes 
on  the  shear  and  press  frequently  are  at  the 
bottom  of  forming  streaks  in  the  fabrics,  and 
for  which  reason  an  economy  in  using  them  as 
long  as  possible,  instead  of  replacing  them  by 
good  ones,  will  be  a  false  one.  A. 


Machinery  Required  in  a  Blanket  Mill 

What  machinery  and  help  would  be  required 
to  finish  300  pairs  of  4-pound  bankets  per  day, 
after  leaving  the  looms?  Craig  (1087). 

“Craig”  does  not  state  whether  he  is  making 
a  wool  or  cotton  blanket.  If  the  material  is 
wool,  or  cotton  and  wool  mixed  the  following 
finishing  machinery  would  be.  neede  . 
fulling  mill,  one  washer,  one  wire  napper,  one 
teasel  gig  for  gigging  the  blankets  after  they 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


58 

have  left  the  wire  napper,  one  whipping  machine. 
The  following  help  will  be  needed  in  the  finishing 
room:  One  man  for  the  fulling  and  washing 

machines,  a  man  and  a  boy  or  two  boys  for 
the  napping  machine;  two  young  men  for  the 
drier,  one  woman  to  run  the  whipping  machine 
and  one  man  for  the  folding  and  packing. 

Greenwich. 


Scouring  and  Fulling  Cotton  Worsteds 

Kindly  give  me  the  kind  and  quantity  of 
soap  to  be  used  in  scouring  and  fulling  cotton 
worsteds  of  delicate  colors.  Ford  (1328). 

In  order  to  get  a  fair  idea  of  what  kind  of 
soap  to  make  for  use  in  connection  with  these 
cotton  worsteds,  it  will  be  well  to  investigate  the 
constituents  of  soap,  for  what  we  may  find 
in  it  that  will  attack  delicate  colors  by  either 
bleeding  them  (rub-off),  changing  their  shade, 
etc.  This  we  will  find  to  be  either  alkali  or 
free  caustic.  The  latter,  if  present  in  any 
quantity  at  all,  is  apt  to  make  trouble  for  the 
finisher,  for  which  reason  a  perfectly  neutral 
soap  should  be  used,  and  which  will  meet  our 
requirements  in  every  particular. 

Soaps  for  scouring  and  milling  should  be 
quite  free  from  uncombined  caustic  alkali,  but 
may  with  advantage  contain  a  small  amount 
say  0.2  to  0.3  per  cent,  of  free  carbonate.  They 
should  not  contain  resin,  and  are  preferably 
made  from  tallow,  palm  oil  and  olive  oil. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


59 


The  presence  of  free  caustic  alkali  in  soap 
may  be  recognized  by  drying  a  small  sample 
and  then  extracting  with  alcohol,  which  dis¬ 
solves  the  soap  and  caustic  alkali,  but  does 
not  dissolve  any  carbonated  alkali  which  may 
be  present.  The  presence  of  caustic  alkali  is 
therefore  readily  detected  in  the  solution  by 
the  production  of  a  pink  color  on  adding  phenol 
phthalein. 

Free  caustic  alkali,  if  present,  may  be  neutral¬ 
ized  by  adding  the  necessary  amount  of  free 
oleic  acid. 

Resin  may  be  detected  by  decomposing  the 
soap  with  the  acid,  dissolving  the  free  fatty 
and  resinous  acids  in  acetic  anhydride,  and 
adding  sulphuric  acid,  100  degrees  Tw„  when, 
if  resin  is  present,  a  reddish  violet  coloration 
will  be  produced. 

The  body  of  the  soap  should  first  be  con¬ 
sidered,  as  this  has  a  very  important  bearing 
upon  its  usefulness,  and  also  from  the  point 
of  economy,  since  a  soap  which  will  not  hold 
its  body,  for  any  length  of  time,  i.  e.  turn,  will 

be  expensive  at  any  cost. 

In  connection  with  either  fulling  or  scourng 
these  cotton  worsteds  we  must  carefully  avoid 
any  tendency  for  them  to  felt  during  these 
processes,  and  as  the  body  of  the  soap  is  closely 
connected  with  the  felting  capacity  of  the  wool 
fabric  it  will  be  readily  understood  that  .it  is 
most  important  for  the  finisher  to  look  carefully 
after  this  item.  The  heavier  the  soap  the  more 


6o 


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its  felting  capacity,  and  therefore,  it  is  important 
that  soap  for  cotton  worsteds  is  made  as  light 
as  possible,  consistent  with  good  work,  since 
in  connection  with  the  construction  of  these 
fabrics,  the  filling,  and  possibly  only  a  very 
small  amount  of  the  warp  is  wool,  i.  e.,  has 
felting  properties,  the  rest  being  cotton,  and 
this  small  amount  of  wool  has  got  to  be  brought 
out  clear.  From  134  to  2  ozs.  of  soap  to  the 
gallon  will  as  a  rule  be  found  sufficient,  the 
proper  amount  depending  largely  upon  the 
kind  of  soap  we  have  to  use.  In  connection 
with  a  good  palm  oil  soap,  or  a  tallow  soap, 
having  possibly  enough  body-making  quality 
in  it,  perhaps  1  oz.  will  be  sufficient  to  the  gallon; 
however,  cheaper  grades  of  soap,  like  cottonseed 
oil  soap,  or  other  grease  soap  of  less  consistency 
than  palm  oil  or  tallow,  will  make  the  use  of 
1 34  or  perhaps  2  ozs.  per  gallon  necessary. 
Percentages  quoted,  however,  must  not  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  a  fast  rule,  the  proper  strength  to 
use  being  best  determined  by  actual  trial,  for 
the  soap  to  be  used  in  connection  with  these 
fabrics  should  never  be  stiff,  like  common  soft 
soap,  when  perfectly  cold,  but  should  be  liquid. 
Adding  from  134  to  2  lbs,  of  sal  ammoniac  to 
every  50  gallons  of  such  a  scouring  soap  will  be 
found  of  value,  both  as  to  its  body  as  well  as 
to  its  cleansing  power. 

Another  important  item  to  be  determined  by 
the  finisher  is  the  proper  amount  of  alkali  to 
put  in  the  soap.  This  we  will  always  find  a 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS  01 

most  difficult  task  for  any  finisher  in  connection 
with  a  new  style  of  fabrics,  i.  e.,  a  range  of 
goods  constructed  on  an  entirely  different  basis 
than  he  has  ever  dealt  with.  Cotton  yarn 
colored,  is  seldom  fast  to  any  large  quantities 
of  alkali,  except  if  dyed  with  such  colors  as  are 
known  and  sold  as  “Fast  to  milling,”  and  it  is 
for  this  reason  important  to  use  alkali  sparingly, 
sal-soda  being  well  suited.  Although  the  quan¬ 
tity  of  it  to  be  used  may  seem  large,  compared 
with  soda  ash  or  ammoniated  alkali,  yet  by 
actual  test  it  will  be  found  that  even  a  greater 
strength  of  it  may  be  used  with  less  danger  to 
the  colors  of  the  fabric  bleeding. 

Sal-soda  certainly  is  the  better  product  to 
use  on  delicate  colors,  but  if  alkali  is  necessary, 
iy2  ozs.  should  be  amply  sufficient,  whereas 
6  ozs.  of  sal  soda  to  the  gallon  may  be  required. 
Dissolve  the  soap  first  and  then  add  alkali  and 
boil  mixture  at  least  for  two  hours,  then  fill 
up  tank  with  water,  and  allow  soap  to  become 
cold,  after  which  add  the  sal  ammoniac.  Never 
use  warm  soap  or  even  warm  water  on  cotton 
worsteds  with  delicate  colors,  provided  you 
don’t  want  them  to  run  or  rub  off. 

When  with  soap  thus  prepared,  it  should  be 
found  during  scouring  that  the  goods  do  not 
lather  properly,  it  will  show  that  the  soap  is 
not  taking  hold  freely,  and  that  therefore  it 
will  have  to  be  made  stronger;  this,  however, 
will  not  often  be  the  case.  As  soon  as  the 
lather  becomes  dirty,  it  had  best  be  drawn  off 


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and  fresh  soap  applied,  thus  preventing  the 
staining  of  any  colors  in  the  fabric  structure. 
Handling  cotton  worsteds  cold  will  also  prevent 
any  colors  from  bleeding  or  getting  stained ; 
however,  in  this  case  it  is  well  and  -safe  to  add 
another  pail  of  soap  to  each  piece,  and  let  them 
run  five  or  ten  minutes  extra,  when  the  gates 
may  be  opened  and  the  water  turned  on  for 
the  rinsing.  After  rinsing  the  pieces  for  about 
one-half  hour,  shut  off  the  water  and  drain  the 
goods  for  a  few  minutes,  then  shut  gates  of  the 
washer,  and  give  each  piece  two  pailfuls  of  salt 
water  made  by  dissolving  a  peck  of  rock  salt 
in  a  barrel  of  water.  Allow  the  goods  to  run 
in  this  liquor  for  about  five  minutes,  and  then 
take  them  out  without  opening  the  gates,  and 
hydro-extract,  and  dry  them  as  soon  as  possible 
thus  preventing  the  colors  from  running,  and 
thus  be  the  cause  of  cloudy  fabrics.  Provided 
you  ever  meet  with  cotton  worsteds,  which  will 
not  stand  this  procedure,  then  the  use  of  fuller’s 
earth  in  place  of  soap  is  the  remedy.  M.  D. 


Bleaching  Woolen  Blankets 

We  cannot  keep  the  rust  spots  from  our 
white  woolen  blankets.  The  goods  are  bleached 
with  sulphur,  and  the  trouble  occurs  more  fre¬ 
quently  in  winter,  and  on  the  cotton  warp 
goods.  Can  you  suggest  a  remedy?  What 
other  methods  of  bleaching  wool  are  used 
besides  the  old  sulphur  process?  Brimstone  (78). 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


63 


Rust  spots  are  liable  to  be  caused  by  presence 
of  iron  in  bleaching  with  sulphur.  Iron  such 
as  nail  heads,  etc.,  exposed  in  the  bleach  house, 
might  cause  the  trouble  which  “Brimstone” 
complains  of.  If  the  presence  of  iron  is  thorough¬ 
ly  excluded  during  the  bleaching  process,  we 
are  inclined  to  think  that  spots  will  not  appear. 

In  addition  to  bleaching  with  sulphur,  wool 
may  be  bleached  by  means  of  a  solution  of 
sulphurous  acid,  or  bisulphite  of  soda.  The 
wool  is  steeped  for  about  20  hours  in  a  strong 
solution  of  sulphurous  acid,  then  extracted  and 
washed.  For  bleaching  with  bisulphite  of  soda, 
the  scoured  wool  is  steeped  for  about  12  hours 
in  a  solution  of  bisulphite,  at  32  degrees  Tw. 
The  wool  is  then  extracted  and  treated  in  a 
6  per  cent,  sulphuric  acid  bath.  During  recent 
years,  peroxide  of  sodium  has  been  employed 
with  most  excellent  results  for  bleaching  wool. 


Determining  Shrinkage  in  Fulling 

How  do  you  determine  the  shrinkage  in 
fulling  in  inches  per  yard?  Strafford  (889). 

The  average  shrinkage  of  a  woolen  fabric  in 
finishing  should  be  determined  as  nearly  as 
possible  when  the  fabric  is  laid  out.  It  is  a 
detail  of  construction  which  in  connection  with 
the  weight  per  yard  from  the  loom  and  loss  of 
total  weight  in  finishing  determines  the  weight 
of  the  finished  cloth  per  yard.  The  shrinkage 


64  KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 

in  length  and  width  has  much  effect  on  the 
appearance  of  the  finished  fabric,  and  this  is 
an  additional  reason  why  it  should  be  decided 
upon  before  the  goods  are  manufactured. 

The  question  as  to  how  much  a  woven  cloth 
should  be  shrunk  in  length  in  finishing  to  weigh 
a  given  number  of  ounces  per  yard  depends  on 
the  percentage  of  loss  of  the  total  weight  in 
finishing  and  on  the  weight  per  yard  from  the 
loom.  The  loss  of  weight  in  finishing  varies 
widely  with  the  stock  in  the  goods  and  the 
method  of  finishing.  Worsted  cloth  made  from 
yarn  containing  but  little  oil  or  other  foreign 
substances  may  lose  not  more  than  5  per  cent, 
or  even  less,  while  the  loss  in  the  case  of  kerseys 
or  beavers  made  from  oily,  dirty  stock,  some¬ 
times  reaches  25  per  cent,  or  more. 

The  following  example  will  illustrate  the 
method  of  calculation.  The  first  piece  of  a 
particular  fabric  before  finishing  measured  45 
yards  and  weighed  26  ounces  per  yard  from 
the  loom.  When  finished  it  measured  40  yards 
and  weighed  23  4-10  ounces  per  yard.  What 
is  the  percentage  of  total  loss  of  weight  in  finish¬ 
ing,  and  how  should  the  shrinkage  of  woven 
pieces  be  regulated  that  vary  in  weight  per 
yard  from  the  trial  piece,  in  order  to  bring  the 
finished  pieces  to  weigh  23  4-10  ounces  per  yard? 

The  total  weight  of  the  woven  piece  was 
(45X26)  1170  ounces.  The  total  weight  of  the 
finished  piece  was  (40X23  4-10)  936  ounces. 
Hence  the  loss  in  finishing  was  (1170  —  936) 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS  65 

234  ounces,  or  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  woven 
weight. 

The  proper  shrinkage  of  pieces  for  different 
woven  weights  per  yard  is  more  easily  calculated 
by  assuming  a  woven  length  of  100  yards.  For 
example:  How  much  should  a  piece  of  the 

same  fabric  weighing  253^  ounces  per  woven 
yard  be  shrunk  to  weigh  23  4-10  ounces  per 
yard? 

100  X  253^  =  2550  ounces,  weight  of  woven  piece. 

2550  —  510  (20  per  cent,  loss)  —  2040  ounces, 
weight  of  finished  piece. 

2040  -4-  23  4-10  =  87  2-10  yards  finished. 

100  —  87  2-10  =  12  8-10  per  cent,  shrinkage  in 
length  for  woven  goods  weighing  25  3^  ounces 
per  yard  woven  to  give  a  weight  of  23  4-10 
ounces  per  finished  yard. 

The  equivalents  of  the  different  percentages 
in  inches  per  yard  are  readily  calculated.  Taking 
the  example  just  given,  one  yard  equals  (30 
inches  X  12  8-10)  4  6-10  inches  per  yard  as  the 
equivalent  of  12  8-10  per  cent. 

These  equivalents  of  the  different  percentages 
in  inches  per  yard  are  needed  by  the  fuller  as 
the  progress  of  the  shrinkage  in  fulling  is  reg¬ 
ulated  at  the  fulling  mill  by  placing  two  strings 
one  or  more  yards  apart  on  the  selvage  and 
noting  the  variation  of  this  space  from  time  to 
time  during  the  fulling  operations. 

By  the  method  already  given  the  shrinkage 
for  any  woven  weight  per  yard  is  calculated  and  a 
table  constructed  for  the  fuller.  Taking  the 
present  example  with  a  loss  of  total  weight  of 


66 


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20  per  cent,  and  a  desired  finish  weight  of  23  4-10 
ounces  per  yard,  the  table  would  be  as  follows: 


Ounces 

Shrinkage 

in  length 

per  woven  yard. 

Per  cent. 

Per  yard. 

27  . 

7  7-10 

2 % 

26  8-10  . 

8  4-10 

3 

26  6-10  . 

9  1-10 

3  H 

26  4-10  . 

9  7-10 

3  34 

26  2-10  . 

.  .  10  4-10 

3  % 

26  . 

.  .  11  1-10 

4 

25  8-10  . 

..  118-10 

434 

25  6-10  . 

. .  12  5-10 

434 

25  4-10  . 

.  .  13  2-10 

4M 

25  2-10  . 

.  .  13  9-10 

5 

25  . 

.  .  14  6-10 

534 

A  variation  of  7  7-10  per  cent,  for  27  ounces  to 
14  6-10  per  cent,  for  25-ounce  flannels  is  too 
wide  to  give  good  results  in  finishing,  conse¬ 
quently  it  is  better  when  the  woven  weight  per 
yard  varies  as  much  as  this  to  vary  the  shrink¬ 
age  less  and  get  a  more  uniform  felt  on  the 
goods,  although  this  may  result  in  greater 
variation  in  the  finished  weight  per  yard. 

When  the  goods  are  flocked  variations  in  the 
woven  weights  per  yard  can,  within  a  limited 
range,  be  equalized  in  the  finished  cloth  by 
varying  the  quantity  of  flocks  applied  to  the 
goods. 

Much  better  results  are  secured  by  keeping  the 
variations  in  the  woven  weights  per  yard  within 
narrow  limits,  thus  avoiding  any  necessity  for 
wide  variations  in  the  flocks  or  shrinkage  in 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


67 


length.  A  clear  understanding  of  the  methods 
of  calculation  just  given  will  enable  one  to 
compile  a  fulling  table  suitable  for  any  grade 
of  goods. _ 


Clothing  on  Nappers 

How  is  it  that  the  clothing  at  the  sides  of  a 
napping  machine  wears  out  at  a  diffei'fent  rate 
from  that  in  the  centre?  I  find  that  sometimes 
the  cards  get  sharper  at  the  ends  than  at  the 
middle  and  other  times  the  reverse  is  the  case. 
Are  the  brushes  at  fault  in  this  matter? 

Wolfe  (694). 

The  trouble  mentioned  in  this  query  arises 
from  the  fact  that  the  cloth  hugs  tighter  in  the 
centre  than  at  the  sides.  This  is  true  of  any 
class  of  goods.  As  a  result  the  clothing  in  the 
centre  of  the  machine  does  the  most  work  and 
consequently  gets  duller  more  rapidly.  The 
brushes  should  be  set  just  close  enough  to  clear 
the  workers.  Henry  Maine. 

This  difficulty  may  be  overcome  by  keeping 
the  cloth  at  the  proper  tension  and  not  allowing 
it  to  sag  on  the  sides  nor  in  the  centre.  If  it 
is  allowed  to  sag  the  brush  will  wear  more  on 
the  sides  than  in  the  centre.  The  brush  should 
be  kept  level  at  all  times.  Baker. 


Hard  Water  in  Finishing 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  get  the  results  out 
here  that  I  used  to  get  in  Massachusetts  mills. 
With  the  same  machinery  and  the  same  method 


68 


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my  soap  bills  are  greater  and  the  cloth  is  not 
right.  I  have  decided  there  is  a  difference 
between  the  water  in  Eastern  and  Western 
mills  and  wish  yo,u  would  give  me  a  simple  test 
and  advise  how  to  proceed.  Milan  (1421). 

The  effect  of  the  lime  or  magnesia  salts  in 
the  water  upon  soap  is  well  known.  The  latter 
decomposes  almost  instantaneously  by  its  contact 
with  these  substances  and  forms  a  lime  or 
magnesia  soap,  a  product  injurious  in  every 
way  to  the  wool.  Soap  plays  a  two-fold 
part  in  the  fulling  process;  first,  as  detergent, 
that  is,  for  loosening  the  dirt  and  oil,  as  well  as 
for  keeping  open  the  serratures  of  the  fibre,  by 
which  at  the  same  time  the  felting  process  is 
promoted;  and,  secondly,  as  a  protection  of  the 
fibre  against  friction  and  heat,  the  latter  espec¬ 
ially  making  it  rough  and  brittle.  In  the  former 
case  the  action  is  produced  by  the  alkali  with 
its  cleansing  effect;  in  the  latter,  by  the  fat, 
which  keeps  the  fibre  soft  and  pliable. 

The  cloth  fulled  with  hard  water  will,  as 
experience  shows,  run  dry  oftener,  part  with 
fibres  more  freely  than  it  should,  and  require 
frequent  additions  of  lye.  Besides  this,  the 
lime  soap  precipitated  upon  the  fibre  cannot 
entirely  be  removed  in  spite  of  washing,  making 
the  cloth  hard  and  slippery  in  feel. 

If,  in  place  of  soap  lye,  water  is  occasionally 
poured  in  towards  the  end  of  the  fulling  process, 
because  too  much  soap  has  already  been  added, 
the  evil  becomes  still  greater.  Economy  is 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS  69 

never  more  dangerous  than  in  just  such  a  case. 
By  fulling  with  hard  water  a  much  larger  quantity 
of  soap  is  needed,  and  the  more  it  is  stinted  the 
harder  and  rougher  becomes  the  cloth.  Besides 
this,  the  more  neutral  and  rich  in  fat  is  the  soap, 
the  more  injurious  will  be  the  effect  of  hard 
water  upon  it,  while  soap  of  a  more  basic  char¬ 
acter  decomposes  less  easily.  The  difference  in 
the  qualities  of  water  explains  why  it  is  that 
a  good  fulling  soap  does  not  act  at  all  times 
with  the  same  good  effect. 

Provided  hard  water  is  the  only  one  at  your 
disposal,  it  should  be  first  softened  by  the 
addition  of  a  strong  solution  of  granulated 
carbonate  of  soda,  the  amount  required  to  be 
added  depending  on  the  hardness  of  the  water. 

A  chemist  determines  the  degree  of  hardness 
of  water  by  the  amount  of  soap  the  water  will 
destroy.  An  alcoholic  solution  of  soap  is  dropped 
carefully  into  a  measured  amount  of  distilled 
water  containing  a  known  amount  of  a  lime 
salt.  The  value  of  a  cubic  centimeter  being 
determined,  the  soap  solution  is  dropped  from 
the  graduated  tube  into  a  measured  amount  of 
the  water  to  be  tested,  and  when  a  permanent 
lather  is  produced  by  shaking,  the  amount  of 
soap-solution  is  noted  and  the  hardness  of  the 
water  calculated. 

One  grain  of  granulated  carbonate  of  soda 
will  precipitate  about  one  and  a  half  grains  of 
sulphate  of  lime  (soluble  in  water)  as  carbonate 
of  lime  (insoluble  in  water).  Nearly  all  water 


7° 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


contains  some  lime,  and  may  have  as  much  as 
fifty  grains  to  the  gallon.  It  is  therefore  neces¬ 
sary  to  experiment  with  the  water  to  be  used, 
and  discover  the  amount  of  granulated  carbonate 
of  soda  required  to  precipitate  the  dissolved 
salts  of  lime  and  magnesia. 

To  test  for  the  presence  of  lime  and  magnesia, 
fill  a  clean  tumbler  with  hot  water  and  add  a 
few  drops  of  a  strong  solution  of  granulated 
carbonate  of  soda.  A  milky  appearance  fol¬ 
lowed  by  a  white  precipitate  shows  their  presence. 

If  water  contains  five  grains  of  lime  and 
magnesia  to  the  gallon,  every  1,000  gallons  will 
destroy  over  ten  pounds  of  neutral  soap;  and 
if  10,000  gallons  are  used  in  a  day,  100  pounds 
of  soap  will  have  been  used  to  kill  the  mineral 
salts,  when  five  and  a  quarter  pounds  of  gran¬ 
ulated  carbonate  of  soda  would  have  done  the 
same  work  and  with  no  dangerous  scum.  Once 
the  scum  is  formed,  nd  amount  of  soap,  granu¬ 
lated  carbonate  soda,  or  lye  will  get  rid  of  it 
again.  The  precipitate  of  the  carbonates  of 
lime  and  magnesia  will  settle  to  the  bottom  of 
the  vat.  Have  a  large  tank  of  known  capacity 
provided  with  a  steam  pipe  to  bring  the  water 
to  a  boil,  add  the  proper  amount  of  granulated 
carbonate  soda  necessary  to  precipitate  the 
lime  and  magnesia,  and  allow  to  settle.  Draw 
from  the  tank  several  inches  above  the  bottom, 
for  the  supply  to  make  up  the  soap-liquor,  and 
for  washing  and  rinsing.  H.  C. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


71 


London  Shrunk 

Will  you  give  me  some  information  regarding 
the  process  of  shrinkage  known  as  London 
shrunk?”  P •  A.  Scoag  (720). 

The  recognized  procedure  is  to  fold  dry  cloth 
between  upper  and  lower  layers  of  wet  cloth, 
to  dry  the  cloth  by  natural  means  and  sub¬ 
sequently  to  give  cold  hydraulic  pressure. 
Some  minor  variations  are  made.  A  closely 
woven  cloth  which  has  been  well  fulled  and 
shrunk  at  the  mills  and  comes  bone-dry  from 
the  hot  press  is  not  treated  with  much  moisture. 
Its  enclosing  wrappers  are  not  so  damp  that 
they  do  much  more  than  supply  the  normal 
regain  of  12  per  cent,  of  moisture  that  dry 
wool  naturally  absorbs.  Such  a  piece  is  en¬ 
couraged  to  shrink  but  little  in  width  and  length. 
The  chief  purpose  is  to  be  rid  of  the  glaze  and 
the  harshness  and  to  substitute  a  pure,  soft 
handle  and  a  somewhat  deader  appearance. 

To  suit  some  fabrics  and  some  customers, 
the  shrinkers  find  it  necessary  to  use  hot  press¬ 
ing  at  times.  It  is  certainly  the  case  that  the 
exact  procedure  is  not  stereotyped,  even  at  any 
one  shrinker’s  works.  Some  fabrics  are  given 
a  more  thorough  wetting  and  are  dried  by 
circulation  in  a  specially  ventilated  chamber. 
One  shrinker  is  said  to  replace  the  use  of  water 
by  low-pressure  steam.  When  it  happens  that 
goods  in  no  need  of  shrinking  are  sent,  it  is 
rumored  that  the  shrinker’s  stamp  and  tickets 


72 


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are  placed  on  pieces  that  have  merely  been 
opened  out  and  cramped  in  a  cold  press.  But 
merchants  are  able,  by  comparing  the  dimensions 
before  and  after,  to  see  how  much  the  process 
has  done  to  fill  up  the  cloths.  Sometimes  the 
loss  of  length  and  width  is  considerable  and  at 
other  times  quite  slight. 

The  average  charge  for  London  shrinking  is 
one  penny  per  yard  of  6-4  width  or,  more  pre¬ 
cisely,  $2.16  per  100  yards.  The  process  has 
its  undoubted  uses,  though  in  some  quarters  it 
is  exalted  as  a  fetish.  James  Strand. 


Wet  Finishing  Worsteds 

I  would  like  a  short  outline  of  the  processes 
of  scouring  and  wet  finishing  worsteds,  including 
piece  dyes  and  goods  woven  colored. 

Murray  (1312). 

It  is  important  that  during  the  scouring 
process  all  foreign  ingredients  added  to  the 
wool  fibre  to  aid  spinning,  etc.,  be  removed;  this 
should  be  done  thoroughly,  as  otherwise  the  colors 
will  lack  their  proper  brightness.  Soap  certainly 
is  the  most  important  agent  in  this  operation, 
the  body  of  which  must  be  as  light  as  possible, 
and  the  alkali  so  weak  that  it  cannot  affect  the 
colors,  yet  strong  enough  to  start  and  then  re¬ 
move  the  dirt  and  grease  in  the  cloth. 

The  following  example  will  give  a  fair  idea  of 
the  process:  Put  sufficient  soap  on  the  strings 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


73 


of  fabrics  to  be  scoured  to  thoroughly  wet 
them  and  run  them  in  this  way  for  about  twenty 
minutes;  then  thin  down  with  a  little  lukewarm 
water,  and  run  for  five  minutes,  after  which 
rinse  completely.  To  give  the  goods  previous 
to  this  final  rinse  a  fuller’s  earth  solution  at 
the  rate  of  a  bucketful  to  four  pieces,  and  to 
run  them  in  it  for  fifteen  minutes  will  benefit 
them  considerable.  It  will  be  a  good  plan  to 
strain  the  fuller’s  earth  solution  before  using 
it. 

Provided  the  colors  in  the  goods  are  found 
to  be  dull,  a  bath  of  acetic  acid  given  them  will 
brighten  them  up.  Afterwards  rinse  them  well 
and  give  a  strong  bath  of  common  salt.  Wash¬ 
ing  worsteds  in  the  open  width  is  considered 
superior  to  the  rope  method,  the  cloth  coming 
out  of  the  scouring  process  cleaner  and  this  in 
less  time  than  by  the  rope  method,  besides  a 
softer  feel  will  be  the  result,  a  feature  which 
certainly  is  an  advantage.  Again  the  forming 
of  creases  is  avoided,  certainly  another  ad¬ 
vantage. 

In  connection  with  piece  dyes,  a  fabric  not 
properly  scoured  will  make  trouble  at  the 
dyeing,  neither  will  the  fine  lustre,  so  important 
in  the  sale  of  certain  goods  come  up  to  its  stand¬ 
ard. 

The  purpose  of  this  wet  finishing  process  is 
to  limit  the  shrinkage  or  felting  capacity  of  the 
wool  fibers  in  the  fabric  as  much  as  possible, 
and  at  the  same  time  lay  the  filling  in  its  proper 


74  KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 

position  in  the  texture.  This  prevents  in  a 
measure  the  subsequent  shrinkage  of  the  fabric, 
more  particularly  in  its  width,  and  also  its 
drawing  out  of  shape  in  the  succeeding  oper¬ 
ations  of  scouring  and  dyeing.  This  process  of 
wet  finishing  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the  wool 
fibre  becomes  fixed  by  the  heat,  humidity  and 
pressure,  and  the  wet  finishing  machine  enables 
the  finisher  to  obtain  this  result. 

Worsteds  differ  essentially  with  reference  to 
their  finishing  operations  from  woolen  cloth. 
With  the  latter,  the  aim  of  the  finisher  is  to 
preserve  the  vitality,  or  shrinking  capacity  of 
the  fibres,  as  long  as  possible,  while  in  con¬ 
nection  with  worsteds,  all  finishing  operations 
are  designed  with  the  point  in  view  to  eliminate 
these  natural  tendencies  of  the  wool  fibre  from 
the  very  start. 

This  wet  finishing  machine  consists  of  a  series 
of  four  tanks,  of  which  the  first  three,  as  a 
rule,  contain  hot  water,  and  the  last  tank  cold 
water,  each  tank  being  equipped  with  guide 
rollers,  stretching  rollers,  and  squeeze  rollers, 
for  guiding,  opening  the  fabric  to  its  full  width, 
and  squeezing  it.  The  wool  fibre  thus  softened 
in  the  boiling  water  in  the  first  three  tanks,  and 
cooled  evenly  and  thoroughly  in  the  last  tank, 
retains  its  form  in  that  position  much  more 
readily  in  the  cloth  structure,  losing  at  the  same 
time  its  felting  capacity.  Again  all  four  tanks 
of  the  machine  may  contain  hot  water,  the 
goods  then,  after  leaving  the  machine,  being 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


75 


rolled  up  and  left  to  cool  while  on  the  rolls,  the 
fibres  in  this  manner  retaining  their  position 
(they  being  set  we  might  say)  more  thoroughly 
than  if  treated  as  before  explained,  they  losing 
in  the  latter  instance  all  tendencies  for  a  further 
shrinking. 

This  machine  by  means  of  its  most  thorough 
construction,  treats  the  goods  evenly  all  over, 
every  inch  getting  exactly  the  same  treatment, 
the  boiling  water  and  the  squeeze  rollers  tend 
to  free  the  goods  from  soap,  provided  the  goods 
were  fulled  any,  or  from  other  foreign  matter, 
like  size,  starch,  oil,  dirt,  dyestuffs,  etc.  The 
chances  for  water  marks,  washer  wrinkles  and 
cloudiness,  are  by  the  use  of  this  machine  re¬ 
duced  to  a  minimum.  If  preferred,  the  machine 
may  also  be  used  after  dyeing. 

A  deep  lustre,  with  a  soft  agreeable  handle 
is  thus  obtained,  which  is  all  that  can  be  desired. 
Careful  drying  follows.  Hayden. 


Moisture  in  Drying  Rooms 

Please  give  me  some  information  regarding 
the  latest  and  best  methods  of  reducing  moisture 
in  drying  rooms.  Suncook  (1022). 

Moisture  is  removed  from  drying  rooms  by 
carrying  the  moist  air  out  and  introducing  dry 
air  in  its  place  by  means  of  ventilating  fans 
of  various  types.  Various  methods  of  removing 
the  moisture  by  condensing  it  in  order  to  save 
the  heat  in  the  air  have  been  tried  but  have 
proved  unsuccessful. 


76 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


Steaming  Woolens  and  Worsteds 


Why  are  goods  steamed  after 
how  is  the  work  done  properly? 


finishing  and 


Grimshaw  (1347). 

Steaming,  in  connection  with  pressing,  by 
means  of  the  hydraulic  as  well  as  the  rotary 
press,  is  done  for  two  reasons;  it  removes  the 
gloss  on  the  fibres  left  by  the  heat  and  pressure, 
and  at  the  same  time  takes  away  the  harsh, 
hard  feeling,  given  by  this  pressing  process  to 
the  cloth.  During  pressing,  every  fibre  in  the 
fabric  is  simultaneously  heated  an.d  pressed, 
in  consequence  of  which  they  lose  portions  of 
their  moisture  and  at  the  same  time  shrink  in 
themselves  and  thus  to  a  certain  extent  become 
glossy,  hard  and  harsh,  a  feature  not  desirable 


m  connection  with  a  great  many  finishes. 
Steaming,  either  alone  or  in  connection  with  a 
light  brushing,  will  remove  the  glaze,  and  at 
the  same  time  impart  a  softer  feel  to  the  fabric 
thus  treated  after  pressing,  for  the  reason  that 
the  dampening  action  of  steaming  swells  the 
fibres  back  to  their  condition  before  pressing. 
Care  must  be  exercised  not  to  overdo  the  matter, 
nor  too  little,  since  in  the  latter  instance  the 
object  aimed  at  is  not  obtained,  whereas  too  much 
steaming  will  take  hold  not  only  of  the  fibre, 
but  of  the  structure,  i.  e„  finish  of  the  cloth,  at 
the  same  time,  thus  impairing  the  latter.  The 
proper  process  requires  such  a  quantity  of 
steam  as  will  just  remove  the  glaze  without 
softening  too  much  the  finish. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


77 


For  perfect  steaming,  allow  the  cloth  to 
thoroughly  cool  down  from  the  pressing  process, 
since  a  highly  heated  fibre  will  not  only  to  a 
considerable  extent  counteract  the  influence  of 
the  moist  steam  but  at  the  same  time  give  rise 
to  the  formation  of  electricity,  a  feature  pre¬ 
venting  a  uniform  and  even  finish  to  the  fabric 
thus  treated  and  which  in  turn  in  some  instances 
may  ruin  the  finish  of  the  fabric  entirely.  For 
this  reason  be  sure  to  allow  the  pressed  fabric 
to  cool  thoroughly  so  that  the  finish  becomes 
set  or  fixed  before  subjecting  it  to  steaming, 
i.  e.,  that  the  fibres,  which  the  hydraulic  or  rotary 
press  has  made  to  assume  new  and  unnatural 
positions  throughout  the  body,  as  well  as  the 
face  of  the  fabric,  must  have  a  chance  to  get 
sufficiently  set,  so  that  they  will  retain  their 
new  positions,  and  will  not  be  influenced  by 
the  after  steaming.  , 

The  steaming  may  be  done  by  means  of  what 
is  known  as  a  steam  box,  the  characteristics 
of  which  are  a  uniform  steam  distribution,  result¬ 
ing  in  absolute  even  steaming.  The  cloth  in  its 
passage  over  the  box  rests  on  the  two  application 
rolls,  the  shafts  of  which  rest  in  journals,  which  in 
turn  can  be  raised  by  means  of  suitable  set 
screws,  thus  regulating  the  application  of  the 
cloth  on  the  felt  cover  of  the  box.  The  ingenious 
construction  of  the  box  compels  the  steam  to 
enter  the  lower  and  in  turn  the  upper  chamber, 
in  such  a  round-about  way  as  to  result  in  a 
uniform  escape  of  it,  all  over  the  surface  of  the 
top  of  the  box. 


78 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


When  starting  to  operate  the  box,  open  the 
drip  valve,  enter  steam  and  wait  until  the 
latter  issues  through  the  felt  cover,  and  then 
start  the  cloth.  After  the  box  is  thoroughly 
heated,  close  the  drip  valve.  Leave  the  latter 
open  any  time  the  box  is  not  in  use. 

This  steam  box,  besides  used  independently 
as  a  machine,  is  also  frequently  found  applied 
to  other  finishing  machinery,  viz.:  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  a  brushing  machine,  and  then  the 
combination  machine  is  known  as  a  steam 
brush;  in  connection  with  a  stretching  machine, 
and  the  combination  machine  is  then  known  as  a 
steaming  and  stretching  machine.  It  is  also 
applied  to  pumicing,  polishing  and  sanding 
machines.  N.  B.  Y. 


Cotton  Warp  Meltons 

For  years  we  have  been  manufacturing  cotton 
warp  meltons,  which  have  acquired  a  high 
reputation  in  the  market  by  reason  of  the  well- 
covered  face.  Some  time  ago  the  mill  in  which 
these  goods  had  been  made  was  destroyed  by 
fire ;  since  then  it  has  been  rebuilt  and  equipped 
with  new  machinery  throughout.  We  now  find 
it  impossible  to  make  as  good  meltons  in  the 
new  mill  as  in  the  old.;  the  face  looks  teethy 
and  our  customers  decline  to  accept  the  goods. 
The  new  cloth  is  made  of  the  same  kind  of 
stock,  the  only  change  in  the  manufacture 
being  in  the  looms  on  which  they  are  woven. 
The  old  looms  ran  60  and  the  new  looms  90 
picks  per  minute.  Can  you  suggest  a  cause  for 
our  difficulties?  Walnut  (352). 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


79 


To  obtain  a  well-covered  face  on  a  melton 
it  is  necessary  to  “burst”  the  threads  in  fulling, 
that  is  to  say,  to  felt  the  goods  so  that  the  threads 
will  be  matted  so  firmly  together  as  to. form 
practically  one  solid  mass.  This  is  more  easily 
effected  when  the  threads  are  twisted  soft. 
Much  softer  filling  can  be  run  on  a  loom  running 
60  picks  than  on  one  running  90  picks  per  minute, 
and  we  should  not  be  surprised  if  Walnut  would 
find  upon  investigation  that  the  spinner  had  found 
it  necessary  to  twist  the  filling  harder  in  order  to 
make  it  weave  on  the  fast  running  looms.  This 
would  prevent  the  “bursting”  of  the  threads  in 
finishing  and  would  cause  the  teethy  appear¬ 
ance  complained  of. 


tolling  of  Goods  on  Finishing  Machines 

I  would  like  to  have  you  advise  me  as  to  the 
cause  and  remedy  for  the  rolling  of  our  goods 
in  the  washing  and  dyeing  machines.  I  enclose 
sample  of  the  fabrics,  which  are  broadcloths 
weighing  8H  ounces;  shrinkage,  7  per  cent,  in 
length;  fulled  from  68  to  50  inches  in  width. 
The  warp  is  right  twist,  filling  left  twist,  38 
picks  per  inch.  We  also  make  worsted  broad¬ 
cloths  having  3,600  ends,  54  picks  and  woven 
70  inches  wide  in  the  loom,  finished  54  inches 
with  a  mohair  listing.  We  are  having  trouble 
with  all  of  these  goods,  but  only  at  intervals. 
Sometimes  they  will  go  all  right  and  then 
suddenly  begin  rolling  to  the  size  of  your  arm. 
The  filling  is  steamed  three  minutes.  The 
listing  is  woven  with  two  threads  in  an  eye. 

Guide  Eye  (990). 


80  KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 

The  rolling  of  these  goods  is  caused  by  the 
listing  threads  not  being  sufficiently  stayed 
or  spread  wide  enough  apart  to  give  them  room 
to  lie  in  proper  position  during  the  process  of 
fulling,  which  on  this  class  of  goods  is  continued 
to  some  extent  in  both  the  scouring  and  dyeing 
processes  after  they  leave  the  fulling  mills. 
When  the  goods  begin  to  roll  from  this  cause 
it  is  impossible  to  remedy  the  difficulty  in  any 
of  the  latter  processes.  They  will  be  in  bad 
condition,  especially  after  dyeing,  as  the  rolling 
with  its  accumulated  felt  will  prevent  the  pene¬ 
tration  of  the  dye  liquor.  The  reason  for  this 
trouble  only  appearing  at  intervals,  is  that  the 
weaver  will  at  times  carelessly  and  improperly 
draw  more  than  the  prescribed  number  of  list¬ 
ing  threads  through  the  single  eye.  The  over¬ 
seer  of  weaving  should  be  made  acquainted 
with  these  facts  and  have  the  loom  fixers  and 
weavers  instructed  to  guard  against  this  mistake. 

Rigo. 

I  have  been  having  the  same  difficulty  with 
my  goods  that  “Guide  Eye”  complains  of  and 
found  the  following  to  be  of  much  service : 
Be  sure  and  soap  evenly  in  the  fulling.  Tack  the 
pieces  before  fulling  as  close  to  the  edge  as 
possible,  leaving  the  tacking  in  until  after  they 
are  scoured.  Roll  them  through  hot  water  on 
rolling  machine  well  weighted  down,  letting 
them  stand  over  night  on  the  roll.  In  the 
morning  reverse  the  roll  end  for  end  and  let 
stay  for  two  or  three  hours.  Then  unroll  and 
naP-  Housatonic. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS  8 1 

There  are  several  causes  for  goods  rolling. 
One  may  be  that  the  listing  is  too  narrow, 
which  could  be  remedied  by  laying  the  list  out 
one-third  wider.  The  listing  may  also  be  too 
tight,  or  probably  there  is  not  enough  space 
between  the  cloth  and  the  list.  It  is  often 
found  that  the  list  will  full  faster  than  the  cloth. 

Wilton. 


Carbonizing  White  Blankets 

In  carbonizing  our  white  blankets  we  run 
them  through  a  bath  of  oil  of  vitriol  at  about 
10°  Tw.,  then  into  a  dryer  at  200°  to  220°,  and 
on  any  work  except  white  we  get  good  results. 
The  white  blankets  come  out  stained  slightly 
yellow,  which  the  bleaching  does  not  entirely 
remove.  Can  you  give  us  a  method  for  carbon¬ 
izing  that  will  leave  them,  pure  white?  We 
would  also  like  some  other  method  of  bleaching 
than  putting  them  in  a  sulphur  house. 

Gardner  (851). 

There  are  several  things  that  might  cause  the 
yellow  effect  mentioned,  but  probably  the 
principal  one  is  a  poor  quality  of  oil  of  vitriol. 
If  it  tinges  the  white  a  pale  yellow  it  is  an 
evidence  of  a  poor  quality;  probably  it  con¬ 
tains  a  percentage  of  iron.  Carbonizing  the 
goods  too  much  will  also  cause  it.  This  really 
means  that  the  goods  have  too  strong  a  bath, 
thus  producing  a  yellow  tinge,  which  is  due 
to  over  carbonization.  If  the  stain  results  from 
either  of  these  things  no  amount  of  bleaching 
will  remove  it  and  give  a  clear  white. 


82 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


Again  the  temperature  may  be  too  high.  If 
“Gardner”  will  try  the  bath  at  8°  Tw.  and  not 
have  the  dryer  over  200°  F.,  I  think  there  will 
be  an  improvement.  If  not,  then  the  oil  of 
vitriol  should  be  tested  by  an  analyst  to  see  if 
it  contains  traces  of  iron.  If  it  does,  he  should 
get  another  supply  that  is  free  from  it  and  try 
again. 

In  regard  to  bleaching,  the  makers  and  sellers 
of  peroxide  of  sodium  claim  that  it  will  bleach 
a  pure  white  without  tendering  the  goods. 

Henry  Douglas. 


Marking  Woolen  Cuts 

We  are  making  woolen  and  worsted  cassimeres 
and  have  difficulty  in  deciphering  the  numbers 
on  the  cuts  after  the  pieces  are  finished.  What 
is  the  best  method  of  marking  cuts? 

Odd  Number  (421). 

The  piece  number,  loom  number,  yards  and 
ounces  per  yard  should  be  sewed  on  the  tail 
end  of  the  piece  with  yarn  that  will  when 
finished,  be  enough  different  from  the  piece  in 
color  to  enable  the  figures  to  be  easily  read. 
Cotton  yarn  is  usually  used  as  it  is  not  colored 
in  dyeing  the  wool.  Much  depends  on  the 
manner  in  which  the  numbers  are  sewed  on  the 
cloth.  Experience  and  a  natural  aptitude  are 
required  for  this  work.  The  figures  should  be 
plain  and  as  small  as  possible  so  as  not  to  waste 
cloth. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


83 

In  most  woolen  mills  the  pieces  are  numbered 
in  either  the  warping  or  weaving  room.  This 
number  is  sewed  on  the  end  of  the  woven  cut 
and  finally  marked  on  the  ticket  when  the 
piece  is  finished,  providing  it  can  be  read  on 
the  cut.  Frequently  the  number  is  either  torn 
off  or  rendered  illegible  by  rough  usage  in 
finishing.  In  such  case  a  new  number  is  given 
to  the  piece,  with  the  resulting  risk  of  having 
duplicate  piece  numbers. 

An  excellent  method  consists  in  so  numbering 
the  pieces  in  the  warping  room  that  the  first 
cut  number  of  each  warp  will  end  with  1.  In 
this  way  the  final  figure  in  the  number  of  the 
piece  indicates  the  number  of  pieces  woven 
from  the  same  warp.  For  example,  the  pieces 
in  four  warps  of  5,  7,  8  and  9  cuts  respectively, 
will  be  numbered  as  follows: 

Warp  No.  1  .  Nos.  1  to  5 

Warp  No.  2  .  11  to  17 

Warp  No.  3  .  21  to  28 

Warp  No.  4  .  31  to  39 

The  object  in  so  numbering  the  woven  cuts 
is  to  enable  the  operatives  to  know  at  once  how 
many  cuts  have  been  woven  before  the  one 
under  observation.  If,  for  instance,  a  wrong 
draw  is  found  in  a  cut  numbered  23,  it  is  prob¬ 
able  that  the  same  imperfection  will  be  found 
in  one  or  more  of  the  succeeding  cuts  of  the 
warp,  which  are  numbered  from  24  to  28. 
Cases  are  constantly  arising  in  the  finishing 
department  in  which  this  method  of  numbering 


84 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


the  cuts  proves  of  great  value  in  tracing  defects. 
It  is  specially  adapted  for  woolen  and  worsted 
mills  in  which  the  number  of  cuts  in  one  warp 
does  not  usually  exceed  10. 

Instead  of  retaining  the  old  cut  numbers,  the 
finished  pieces  are  numbered  consecutively  as 
they  are  measured  and  booked  in  the  finishing 
room.  The  old  or  woven  cut  number  is  also 
booked  to  enable  the  piece  to  be  traced  back 
into  the  mill  if  necessary,  but  the  new  or  finished 
piece  number  is  the  only  one  marked  on  the 
cloth  ticket. 


Water  Tanks 

I  am  interested  in  the  water  pressure  on 
sprinklers  and  hydrants  and  would  like  to  have 
you  explain  how  to  make  the  calculation  for 
the  following  problem:  We  want  to  erect  a 
square  tank  to  hold  3,000  gallons  of  water  to 
supply  our  mill  sprinklers  and  hydrants.  What 
must  be  the  size  of  this  tank  and  what  will 
3,000  gallons  of  water  weigh?  Marin  (343). 

A  gallon  of  distilled  water  weighs  8.34  lbs., 
and  a  cubic  foot  of  water  weighs  62}^  lbs.  It 
follows  that  the  weight  of  the  water  and  size 
of  the  tank  in  the  case  cited  by  Marin  are  calcu¬ 
lated  readily  as  follows: 

3,000  (gallons)  X  8.34  (lbs.  per  gallon)  = 
25,020  lbs.  (12)^2  tons). 

25,020  (lbs.)  -f-  62}^  (lbs.  per  cu.  ft.)  —  400 
cubic  feet. 

Cube  root  of  400  =  7.37  ft.  (7  ft.  4 ^  in.) 
size  of  tank. 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


85 

The  difference  in  weight  between  distilled  and 
ordinary  river  water  is  so  slight  as  to  be  negligible 
in  such  calculations  as  these.  The  labor  of 
calculation  consists  mainly  in  the  extraction  of 
the  cube  root,  the  determination  of  the  weight 
of  water  and  cubic  capacity  tank  requiring  a 
simple  multiplication  and  division  onlv. 


Chafing  of  Boucle  Dress  Goods 

We  have  large  orders  on  boucle  dress 
goods  and  are  troubled  with  the  chafing  of  the 
loops  during  finishing.  The  selling  samples 
were  scoured  by  hand  when  finished  and  came 
out  perfect,  the  loop  being  uninjured.  The 
samples  looked  so  well  that  we  received  large 
orders,  but  now  that  we  have  come  to  finish 
the  pieces  in  the  regular  way  we  find  that  the 
loop  is  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  the  finishing 
process.  The  result  is  that  the  goods  are  un¬ 
merchantable.  Can  you  give  us  any  inform¬ 
ation  regarding  the  probable  cause  of  this 
trouble,  which  is  a  very  serious  one  with  us  at 
the  present  time?  The  goods  are  washed  and 
not  fulled,  and  then  piece  dyed,  rinsed,  dried, 
sheared  and  pressed.  Capulet  (351). 

From  the  details  given  by  our  correspondent  we 
judge  that  the  trouble  is  caused  by  chafing  in 
either  the  washing  or  piece  dyeing  kettle.  As 
the  loops  in  boucle  yarn  are  very  tender  it  is 
necessary  to  handle  the  goods  with  great  care 
during  the  finishing  process,  otherwise  they  will 
be  chafed  and  practically  destroyed.  Among 
the  causes  of  this  trouble  are  a  too  high  speed 


86 


KINKS  FOR  FINISHERS 


of  the  washer,  or  a  difference  in  the  circumfer¬ 
ence  of  the  washer  rollers.  A  great  many  cloth 
washers  are  running  with  rollers  of  different 
sizes  in  the  same  machine,  as  a  consequence  of 
which  there  is  a  continuous  slipping  where  the 
rollers  come  in  contact.  This  will  readily  des¬ 
troy  the  loops  in  boucle  dress  goods.  Whether 
the  trouble  lies  in  the  washer  or  dye  kettle  can 
easily  be  determined  by  examining  the  pieces 
as  they  come  from  the  washer  and  dye  house. 
An  excessively  high  speed  of  the  reel  or  dragging 
over  the  rolls  would  also  be  likely  to  cause  the 
trouble. 


Percentage  of  Cotton 

How  can  I  determine  the  proportion  of  cotton 
and  wool  in  mixed  goods?  Test  (517.) 

Weigh  a  sample  of  the  mixed  goods  and  then 
boil  for  20  minutes  in  a  10  per  cent,  solution  of 
caustic  soda  or  potash  which  can  be  obtained 
at  any  drug  store.  This  treatment  removes  the 
wool  and  a  small  proportion,  possibly  5  per 
cent.,  of  the  cotton.  Rinse,  dry  and  weigh  the 
cotton  residue.  Add  5  per  cent,  to  obtain  the 
weight  of  the  cotton.  The  difference  between 
this  and  the  total  weight  is  the  weight  of  the 
wool.  It  is  well  to  enclose  the  sample  in  a 
small  sack  of  cotton  cloth  while  boiling  it  to 
prevent  any  loss  of  the  material. 


I  N  D  ex: 


PAGE 

Acid  Spots,  Removing . 11 

Alkali  Spots,  Removing . 11 

Allowance  for  Stretch  after  Fulling . 53 

Amount  of  Water  in  Extracted  Cloth . 22 

Analysis  of  Union  Goods! . 86 

Beavers,  Lustre  Finish  on . 37 

Bleaching  with  Permanganate  ofJPotash  . 17 

Bleaching  Wool  with  Bisulphite  of£Soda  . 63 

Bleaching  Woolen  Blankets  . 62 

Boiling  and  Stretching . » . 33 

Boucle  Dress  Goods,  Chafing  of . 85 

Brightening  Colors  on  Worsteds] . 73 

Brightening  White  Blankets . 8 

Broadcloths,  Lustre  Finish  on . 37 

Brushes  on  Shear . 57 

Brushing  and  Shearing  . 14 

Burr  Dye  for  Wool,  Worsted  and  Union  Goods . 23 

Calculating  Shrinkage  in  Fulling  . 63 

Calculating  Shrinkage  to  Give  Specified  Weight . 42 

Calculating  Water  Pressure  . 84 

Carbonizing  White  Blankets . 81 

Care  in  Shearing  . 57 

Cause  of  Streaks  . 55 

Chafing  of  Boucle  Dress  Goods  . 85 

Charge  for  London  Shrinking . 72 

Cloth  Boards  . 36 

Clothing  on  Nappers  . 67 

Cockles,  Origin  of  . 20 

Construction  of  Steaming  and  Stretching  Machine . 34 

Cost  of  Finishing  Kerseys  . 46 

Cotton,  Percentage  of  . . 86 

Cotton  Warp  Meltons  . 78 

Cotton  Warp  Worsteds,  Sponging  . 12 

Cotton  Worsteds,  Soap  for  Scouring  and  Fulling . 58 

Cracks  in  Worsted  Goods . 44 

Crimps  in  Worsted  Cloths . 6 

Crow’s  Feet  Crimps  . 7 

Cure  for  Watermarks . 54 

Defect  in  Crabbing . 54 

Defective  Seams,  Effect  of  . 57 

Defects  After  Sponging  Low-Grade  Woolens . 49 

Detection  of  Resin  in  Soap . 59 

Determining  Hardness  of  Water  . 69 

Determining  Shrinkage  in  Fulling  . 63 


87 


88 


INDEX 


PAGE 


Dewing  Process . 30 

Different  Aims  in  Finishing  Woolens  and  Worsteds.  .  .  .74 

Difficulty  in  Fulling  . 5 

Effect  of  Hard  Water  on  Soap . 68 

Effect  of  Temperature  in  Fulling  . 52 

Face  Finish . 36 

Finished  Weight  of  Woolen  Goods  . 42 

Finishing  Fancy  Cassimeres . 13 

Flannels,  Wrinkles  in . 19 

Flocking  Fancy  Cassimeres  . 13 

Fuller’s  Earth  on  Worsteds  . 73 

Fulling  Cotton  Worsteds . 59 

Fulling  Cotton  Worsteds . 58 

Fulling,  Difficulty  in  . 5 

Fulling  in  Length  and  Width . 5,  53 

Fulling  Meltons . 79 

Fulling  with  Hard  Water  . 68 

Gigging  and  Steaming . 57 

Gigging  Fancy  Cassimeres . 14 

Gigging  for  Face  Finish . 39 

Gum  or  Dyestuff  on  Press  Cylinder . 32 

Hard  Water  in  Finishing . 67 

Hard  Water,  Test  for . 69,  70 

Help  Required  in  Finishing  Blankets . 57 

Hydro-Extractor,  Test  of . 21 

Iron  Rust  in  Water  Pipes  . 16 

Kerseys,  Lustre  Finish  on . 37 

Labor  Cost  of  Finishing . 45 

London  Shrunk  Process . 30,  71 

Loom  and  Finished  Weights  of  Woolen  Goods . 42 

Loss  in  Weight  in  Fulling  . 14 

Machinery  Required  in  a  Blanket  Mill . 57 

Marking  Woolen  Cuts  . 82 

Meltons,  Cotton  Warp  . 78 

Mercerized  and  Worsted  Fabrics,  Cockling  in  Steaming. 30 

Mixed  Filling,  Effect  of  . 21 

Mixing  Burr  Dye . 25 

Moisture  Added  in  London  Shrunk  Process . 71 

Moisture  in  Drying  Rooms . 75 

Mold  Spots,  Removing  . 11 

Muddy  Water . 8 

Nappers,  Clothing  on . 67 

Neutralizing  Free  Caustic  Alkali . 59 

Object  of  Numbering  Cuts  . 83 

Object  of  Wet  Finishing . 73 

Off-Slrade  Goods . 40 

Oil  Spots,  Removing  . 10 

One-Dip  Dye  on  Cotton  Warp  Worsted  . 12 

Open- Width  Scouring  Machines . 8 

Paper  Cloth  Boards . 36 

Percentage  of  Cotton  . 86 

Perforated  Rolls  for  Steaming  Cloth . 18 

Permanganate  of  Potash . 17 


INDEX 


89 

PAGE 

Preventative  of  Streaks  and  Creases . 55 

Preventing  Crimps  in  Worsteds  . 7 

Recipe  for  Burr  Dye  . 23,  24,  28 

Reducing  Moisture  in  Drying  Rooms . 75 

Remedy  for  Rolling  of  Goods . 80 

Remedying  Off-Shade  . 40 

Removal  of  Spots  on  Worsted  Goods . 9 

Result  of  Imperfect  Listing  . 80 

Rinsing  After  Burr  Dyeing . 29 

Rinsing  Cotton  Worsteds  . 62 

Rolling  of  Goods  on  Finishing  Machines  . 79 

Rotary  Press,  Slipping  of  Cylinder  on  . 31 

Rough  Lap  Boards  . 36 

Rust  Spots  on  White  Woolen  Goods . 15 

Rust  Spots,  Removing . 9 

Rust  Spots  on  Wool  Blankets . 62 

Rusting  Press  Cylinder  . 32 

Scouring  and  Fulling  Cotton  Worsteds . 58 

Scouring  Cassimeres . 14 

Scouring  Soap  for  White  Goods . 8 

Scouring  Worsteds . 72 

Shrinkage  in  Fulling  . 63 

Sizes  of  Perforated  Rolls  for  Steaming . 18 

Slipping  of  the  Cylinder  of  a  Rotary  Press  . 31 

Soap  for  Delicate  Colors  . 58 

Soap  for  Worsteds  . 45,  72 

Soaping  . 13 

Sponging  Cotton  Warp  Worsted  . 12 

Sponging  Low-Grade  Woolens . 49 

Spots  on  Worsted  Goods . 9 

Squantum  Paste,  Use  of . 35 

Stains,  Removing . 11 

Steaming  . ;  . 77 

Steaming  and  Gigging  for  Face  Finish  . . 38 

Steaming  and  Sponging  Cotton  Warp  Worsted . 12 

Steaming  and  Stretching . 33 

Steaming  Cloth,  Rolls  for . 18 

Steaming  Woolens  and  Worsteds . 76 

Streaks  in  Woolen  Goods  . 54 

Strength  of  Burr  Dye  . .  •  26 

Stretch  in  Fulled  Goods  . 5,  50 

Stretching  and  Steaming . 33 

Stripes  in  Cotton  Warp  Worsted  . 12 

Sulphur  Bleaching  . 63 

Sulphur  Bleaching,  Rust  Spots  in  . •  •  •  . . 15 

Table  of  Percentage  of  Water  in  Extracted  Cloth . 23 

Table  of  Shrinkage  in  Fulling . 66 

“Teethy”  Appearance  on  Meltons  . 78 

Temperature  in  Carbonizing . 82 

Tender  Fulled  Goods . 51 

Tension  of  Cloth  on  Nappers  . 67 

Test  for  Free  Caustic  Alkali . 59 

Test  of  Hydro-Extractor . 21 


90 


INDEX 


PAGE 


Tight  Listing,  Effect  of . 

Tight  Threads  after  Sponging  . 

Unclean  Goods  . 

Union  Dress  Goods,  Wrinkles  in.  . 

Union  Goods . 

Union  Goods,  Bleaching  . 

Variation  in  Loom  Weight . . 

Watermarks  on  Worsteds . . 

Waterproofing  Woolen  Goods . 

Water  Softener . 

Water  Tanks  . 

Wet  Finishing  Worsteds . . 

Why  Fulled  Goods  Stretch  Lengthwise . 

Worn  Clothing  on  Nappers . 

Wrinkles  in  Worsted  Goods  . 

Wrinkling  of  Woolen  Goods . 

Yellow  Stain  on  Carbonized  White  Blankets 


.  20 
.49 
.40 
.  19 
,28 
.  18 
44 
53 
34 
69 
84 
72 
50 
67 
44 
19 
81 


Evan  Arthur  Leigh 

232  SUMMER  STREET,  BOSTON,  MASS. 

-  IMPORTER  OF  - 

Textile  Machinery 

Etc. 

SOLE  AGENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA  FOR 

PLATT  BROS.  &  CO.,  Ltd. 

Oldham,  England 

BUILDERS  OF  THE  HIGHEST  GRADE  OF 

FRENCH  DRAWING  and  PREPARING  MACHINERY  and 
WORSTED  MULES  for  all  classes  of  Yarns— from 
Hosiery  to  the  Finest  Dress  Goods. 

WORSTED  and  WOOLEN  CARDING  ENGINES— Special 
Designs. 

IMPROVED  LOW-PRESSURE  STEAM  BACKWASHING 
MACHINES. 

SPECIAL  MACHINERY  FOR  THE  MANUFACTURE  of 
Imitation  Woolen  Yarns  from  Cotton  Waste  on 
Platt’s  Patent  Barchant  System. 

RUBBING  LEATHERS,  PARCHMENT  and  other  Supplies 
kept  in  stock. 


BIRCH 
BROTHERS 

ALBERT  BIRCH,  Treas. 
Somerville  Machine  Works 

SOMERVILLE,  MASS. 

Original  Inventor  and  Alaker  of  the 
UNIVERSALLY  ADOPTED 

CONTINUOUS  CRABBING  MACHINES 
STEAM  FINISHING  MACHINES 
CRABBING  MACHINES 

Single — Double — Triple 

OPENING  and  FOLDING  MACHINES 
“CORONATION”  SEWING  MACHINES 
TACKING  MACHINES 
SINGEING  MACHINES,  etc, 

NO  CONNECTION  WITH  ANY  OTHER  CONCERN 

Please  address  your  inquiries  to  SOMERVILLE,  MASS. 


a«CH  TRET. 


BIRCH  TREE- 


Books  That  Help 


Barker — Introduction  to  Study  of  Textile 

Design . $2.50 

Beaumont— Color  in  Woven  Design  .  .  .  7.50 

Bradbury — Calculations  in  Yarns  and  Fab¬ 
rics  .  1.25 

Herzfeld — Technical  Testing  of  Yarns  and 

Fabrics .  3.50 

Hurst — Textile  Soaps  and  Oils .  2.50 

Kastanek — Manual  of  Weave  Construction  1.00 

Simplex  Tables . 50 

Watt — Art  of  Soap  Making .  3.00 

Beaumont — Woolen  and  Worsted  Manu¬ 
facture  .  2.00 

Brown — Practice  in  Wool  Carding . 50 

Buckley — Cone  Drawing .  .50 

Buckley— Worsted  Overlooker’s  Handbook  .50 
Greene  — Practice  in  Finishing  Woolens 

and  Worsteds . • .  .50 

Priestman— Principles  of  Woolen  Spinning  2.50 
Priestman — Principles  of  Wool  Combing  .  1.50 

Priestman — Principles  of  Worsted  Spinning  2.50 
Reiser — Faults  in  the  Manufacture  of 

Woolen  Goods  and  their  Prevention  .  .  2.50 

Timmerman — Woolen  and  Worsted  Fin¬ 
ishing  .  3.00 

Beech — Dyeing  of  Woolen  Fabrics  .....  3.50 

Hummel — Dyeing  of  Textile  Fabrics  .  .  1.75 

We  prepay  Postage  or  Express  Charges. 


LORD  &  NAGLE  COMPANY 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

'  SEND  FOR  COMPLETE  CATALOG 


CURTIS  &  MARBLE  MACHINE  CO. 

WORCESTER,  MASS. 


CLOTH  FINISHING  MACHINERY 

...FOR... 

WOOLEN  WORSTED  COTTON  GOODS 

CARPETS  PLUSHES 

VELVETS,  Etc. 

Improved 

Double  Cutter  Shearing  Machines 

On  divided  frames,  with  Plain  or  List  Saving  Rests 


SINGLE  CUTTER  SHEARS  BRUSHING  MACHINES 
TEASEL  GIGS  WIRE  NAPPERS 

GAS  SINGEING  MACHINES 

STEAM  FINISHING  MACHINES 

DOUBLING  AND  TACKING  MACHINES 
DEWING  MACHINES 

WORSTED  PUMICING  MACHINES 

GESSNER  and  MILLER  ROTARY  CLOTH  PRESSES 
CLOTH  FOLDERS  SEWING  MACHINES 
Etc.  Etc.  Etc. 


PICKING,  MIXING  and  BURRING  MACHINERY 
STEEL  RING  BURR  CYLINDERS 

and  FEED  ROLLS  FOR  CARDS 


Preparation 

and 

Wet  Finishing 

Machinery 

for 

Woolens 

and 

Worsteds 


James  Hunter 
Machine  Company 

North  Adams,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 


